A distinguished jurist provides insights into the judicial role by asking and answering the question, "What is it that I do when I decide a case?" In this legal classic, Benjamin N. Cardozo - an Associate Supreme Court Justice of the United States from 1932-38 - explains a judge's conscious and unconscious decision-making processes. Cardozo handed down opinions that stressed the necessity for the law to adapt to the realities and needs of contemporary...

"This rich collection offers Neil Gorsuch's most salient writings and speeches from his over three decades of thinking about the law as a student, practitioner, professor, judge, and now justice. For court watchers and the general public alike, it provides essential insight into his judicial philosophy and his views on the Constitution and the role of judges in our modern republic"--

The impartial administration of justice and the accountability of government officials are two of the most strongly held American values. Yet these values are often in direct conflict with one another. At the national level, the U.S. Constitution resolves this tension in favor of judicial independence, insulating judges from the undue influence of other political institutions, interest groups, and the general public. But at the state level, debate...

"The book provides a very short, but complete introduction to the institutions and people, the rules and processes, that make up the American judicial system. Jargon free and aimed at a general reader, it explains the where, when, and who of American courts. It also makes clear the how and why behind the law as it affects everyday people. It is, in a word, a starting place to understanding the third branch of American government at both the state...

"No sitting federal judge has ever written so trenchant a critique of the federal judiciary as Richard A. Posner does in this, his most confrontational book. He exposes the failures of the institution designed by the founders to check congressional and presidential power and resist its abuse, and offers practical prescriptions for reform"--

In recent years, the justices of the Supreme Court have ruled definitively on such issues as abortion, school prayer, and military tribunals in the war on terror. They decided one of American history's most contested presidential elections. Yet for all their power, the justices never face election and hold their offices for life. This combination of influence and apparent unaccountability has led many to complain that there is something illegitimate-even...

"Learn about the Supreme Court of the United States, the history of the federal judiciary, and its organizations and responsibilities"--Provided by publisher.

The 2016 presidential election campaign and its aftermath have underscored worrisome trends in the present state of our democracy: the extreme polarization of the electorate, the dismissal of people with opposing views, and the widespread acceptance and circulation of one-sided and factually erroneous information. Only a small proportion of those who are eligible actually vote, and a declining number of citizens actively participate in local community...