The Business of the Supreme Court: A Study in the Federal Judicial System / Edition 1

by James M. Landis

Overview

As Felix Frankfurter and James Landis write in their preface to The Business of the Supreme Court, "To an extraordinary degree legal thinking dominates the United States. Every act of government, every law passed by Congress, every treaty ratified by the Senate, every executive order issued by the President is tested by legal considerations and may be subjected to the hazards of litigation. Other Nations, too, have a written Constitution. But no other country in the world leaves to the judiciary the powers which it exercises over us."

This classic volume, first published in 1928, originated in a series of articles written by Frankfurter, then a professor of law at Harvard University, and his student, Landis, for the Harvard Law Review. These articles chronicled and analyzed the many judiciary acts that were passed between 1789 and 1925, and illuminated the intimate connection between form and substance in the life of American law. For instance: When a community first decided to enact zoning laws—the Supreme Court had to approve. When the United States made a treaty with Germany following World War I—the Supreme Court had to define the limits and meaning of the treaty.

Newly reissued with an introduction by constitutional expert Richard G. Stevens, The Business of the Supreme Court is still as fresh and relevant today as it was when first published. It is a work that will aid the student of the law to both love the law and remain true to its purposes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781412806121
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/15/2006
Series:	Library of Liberal Thought Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	388
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	16 Years

About the Author

Felix Frankfurter (1882-1965) was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1939 by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Previous to his appointment he taught administrative law at Harvard University and was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In 1963 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

James M. Landis (1899-1964), during the New Deal, served on the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He was dean of the Harvard University Law School from 1937 to 1946.

Richard G. Stevens retired from National Defense University as professor of political science in 1994. Since then he has taught as an adjunct professor of government at American University. He is co-editor with Matthew J. Franck of Sober as a Judge: The Supreme Court and Republican Liberty , and the author of The American Constitution and Its Provenance ; Reason and History in Judicial Judgment: Felix Frankfurter and Due Process ; and Political Philosophy: An Introduction.

Table of Contents

PREFACE INTRODUCTION I. PERIOD PRIOR TO THE CIVIL WAR II. FROM THE CIVIL WAR TO THE CIRCUIT COURTS OF APPEALS ACT III. FROM THE CIRCUIT COURTS OF APPEALS ACT TO THE JUDICIAL CODE IV. FEDERAL COURTS OF SPECIALIZED JURISDICTION V. FROM THE JUDICIAL CODE TO THE POST-WAR JUDICIARY ACTS VI. THE JUDICIAL CONFERENCE VII. THE JUDICIARY ACT OF 1925 VIII.THE FUTURE OF SUPREME COURT LITIGATION TABLE OF CASES TABLE OF STATUTES INDEX