Judgment Calls: Principle and Politics in Constitutional Law

— —

Daniel A. Farber (Sho Sato Professor of Law, Sho Sato Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley) Suzanne Sherry (Herman O. Loewenstein Professor of Law, Herman O. Loewenstein Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University Law School)

Judgment Calls

Principle and Politics in Constitutional Law

Daniel A. Farber (Sho Sato Professor of Law, Sho Sato Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley), Suzanne Sherry (Herman O. Loewenstein Professor of Law, Herman O. Loewenstein Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University Law School)

$122.95

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Oxford University Press Inc
29 January 2009

Constitutional & administrative law; Judicial review

"Judgement Calls tackles one of the most important and controversial legal questions in contemporary America: How should judges interpret the Constitution? Our Constitution contains a great deal of language that is vague, broad, or ambiguous, making its meaning uncertain. Many people believe this uncertainty allows judges too much discretion. They suggest that constitutional adjudication is just politics in disguise, and that judges are legislators in robes who read the Constitution in accordance with their own political views. Some think that political decision making by judges is inevitable, and others think it can be restrained by ""strict constructionist"" theories like textualism or originalism. But at bottom, both sorts of thinkers believe that judging has to be either tightly constrained and inflexible or purely political and unfettered: There is, they argue, no middle ground.

Farber and Sherry disagree, and in this book they describe and defend that middle ground. They show how judging can be--and often is--both principled and flexible. In other words, they attempt to reconcile the democratic rule of law with the recognition that judges have discretion. They explain how judicial discretion can be exercised responsibly, describe the existing constraints that guide and cabin such discretion, and suggest improvements.

In exploring how constitutional adjudication works in practice (and how it can be made better), Farber and Sherry cover a wide range of topics that are relevant to their thesis and also independently important, including judicial opinion-writing, the use of precedent, the judicial selection process, the structure of the American judiciary, and the nature of legal education. They conclude with a careful look at how the Supreme Court has treated three of the most significant and sensitive constitutional issues: terrorism, abortion, and affirmative action. Timely, trenchant, and carefully argued, Judgment Calls is a welcome addition to the literature on the intersection of constitutional interpretation and American politics."

By: Daniel A. Farber (Sho Sato Professor of Law Sho Sato Professor of Law University of California Berkeley), Suzanne Sherry (Herman O. Loewenstein Professor of Law, Herman O. Loewenstein Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University Law School)
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 240mm, Width: 162mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 458g
ISBN: 9780195371208
ISBN 10: 0195371208
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 29 January 2009
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

"Preface 1: Introduction Part I: The ""Problem"" of Judicial Review 2: The Inevitability of American Judicial Review 3: The Democracy Worry Part II: Discretion and Judgment 4: How to Think About Discretion 5: Reason and Relevance 6: The Anatomy of Judgment Part III: Precedent as a Safeguard 7: Respect for Precedent 8: Explaining Precedent Part IV: Process Safeguards 9: Deliberation and Multiple Decision-makers 10: Transparency 11: Incrementalism Part V: Internalized Safeguards 12: Professionalism and the Selection Process 13: The Role of the Legal Academy Part VI: Case Studies 14: Terrorism 15: Abortion 16: Affirmative Action Some Closing Words Bibliographic Essay"

Daniel A. Farber is the Sho Sato Professor of Law and an adjunct faculty member of the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also the Faculty Director of the California Center for Environmental Law and Policy (CCELP) at Berkeley. Professor Farber also serves on the editorial board of Foundation Press, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the American Law Institute. He is a co-editor of Issues in Legal Scholarship. Suzanna Sherry is Herman O. Loewenstein Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University Law School. Professor Sherry's work includes two books on constitutional theory, as well as more than 75 articles on such topics as constitutional theory and judicial decision-making, First Amendment law, constitutional history, electoral apportionment, cyberspace law, and state sovereign immunity. She is also a co-author of three legal textbooks.