Behind the corinthian columns of the United States Supreme Court sit guardians of civic virtue. Their devotion to "equal justice under law" is carved in the marble facade.
But Adam Cohen devotes his new book to demonstrating that after the brief flowering of such commitment in the Warren Court era retrenchment began in 1969 with the election of Richard Nixon who named the intellectually shallow but reliably conservative Warren Burger as Chief Justice. It has gotten worse since then. William Rehnquist was followed in the post by the "balls and strikes" conservatism of his former law clerk John Roberts.
SUPREME INEQUALITY
by Adam Cohen
Review by Kenji Yoshino
But Adam Cohen devotes his new book to demonstrating that after the brief flowering of such commitment in the Warren Court era retrenchment began in 1969 with the election of Richard Nixon who named the intellectually shallow but reliably conservative Warren Burger as Chief Justice. It has gotten worse since then. William Rehnquist was followed in the post by the "balls and strikes" conservatism of his former law clerk John Roberts.
A particularly defining low point was Rodriguez v. San Antonio, the 1973 decision in which the court rejected actions to equitably fund public schools, saying that economic inequality was beyond the reach of the Equal Protection Clause of the post-Civil War 14th Amendment.
Kenji Yoshino lauds Adam Cohen's effort but regrets that he has little to add about how to remedy the situation. That road will require a major shift in the composition of the federal judiciary, top to bottom. Better luck may be found in the courts of the so-called Blue States. - gwc
A Supreme Court for the Rich - The New York TimesSUPREME INEQUALITY
by Adam Cohen
Review by Kenji Yoshino
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