The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States

by Kermit L. Hall

In Democracy in America , De Tocqueville observed that there is hardly a political question in the United States which does not sooner or later turn into a judicial one. Two hundred years of American history have certainly born out the truth of this remark. Whether a controversy is political,
economic, or social, whether it focuses on child labor, slavery, prayer in public schools, war powers, busing, abortion, business monopolies, or capital punishment, eventually the battle is taken to court. And the ultimate venue for these vital struggles is the Supreme Court. Indeed, the Supreme
Court is a prism through which the entire life of our nation is magnified and illuminated, and through which we have defined ourselves as a people.
Now, in The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States , readers have a rich source of information about one of the central institutions of American life. Everything one would want to know about the Supreme Court is here, in more than a thousand alphabetically arranged entries.
There are biographies of every justice who ever sat on the Supreme Court (with pictures of each) as well as entries on rejected nominees and prominent judges (such as Learned Hand), on presidents who had an important impact on--or conflict with--the Court (including Thomas Jefferson, Abraham
Lincoln, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt), and on other influential figures (from Alexander Hamilton to Cass Gilbert, the architect of the Supreme Court Building). More than four hundred entries examine every major case that the court has decided, from Marbury v. Madison (which established the Court's
power to declare federal laws unconstitutional) and Scott v. Sandford (the Dred Scott Case) to Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade . In addition, there are extended essays on the major issues that have confronted the Court (from slavery to national security, capital punishment to religion,
from affirmative action to the Vietnam War), entries on judicial matters and legal terms (ranging from judicial review and separation of powers to amicus brief and habeas corpus), articles on all Amendments to the Constitution, and an extensive, four-part history of the Court. And as in all Oxford
Companions, the contributors combine scholarship with engaging insight, giving us a sense of the personality and the inner workings of the Court. They examine everything from the wanderings of the Supreme Court (the first session was held on the second floor of the Royal Exchange Building in New
York City, and the Court at times has met in a Congressional committee room, a tavern, a rented house, and finally, in 1935, its own building), to the Jackson-Black Feud and the clouded resignation of Abe Fortas, to the Supreme Court's press room and the paintings and sculptures adorning the Supreme
Court building.
The decisions of the Supreme Court have touched--and will continue to influence--every corner of American society. A comprehensive, authoritative guide to the Supreme Court, this volume is an essential reference source for everyone interested in the workings of this vital institution and in the
multitude of issues it has confronted over the course of its history.

Genres: Reference, Law, History, Nonfiction, Politics, American History, Government

1066 pages, Hardcover

First published November 12, 1992

About the author

Kermit Lance Hall was a noted legal historian who served as president of Utah State University from 2000 to 2005, and president of the at University at Albany from 2005 until his sudden death from a heart attack in 2006.

Reviews

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will keep this short. You don't want to read a detailed review of a compendium of details and I don't want to write that, either.

There is plenty of reason for each of us to be interested in America's Supreme Court. After all, "the buck stops here" with definitive determination of what our laws and Constitution are all about. This book is not handy in the sense you could easily break your foot if it should slip through your fingers. It is handy in the sense that it provides context for most anything your read about the Supreme Court. And there will be a lot written in the coming months.

A story about feuds between justices.....this book documents some of the most famous. A reference to an early case (such as Marbury v. Madison), in a moment you have all the essential elements. You can also look at topics such as war powers or the "commerce clause."

One small quibble: an inexplicable omission of much on water law and particularly the disputes between states.

[Bryan Whitehead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here’s an ambitious undertaking: sum up the history of American Constitutional law in a single volume. Even with nearly 1000 pages of tiny type to work with, many issues and important cases end up truncated a bit too much or omitted entirely. That’s to be expected. A less desirable facet of this work, however, is the distinct sound of axes grinding that can be detected in many of the entries. Though a broad panel of experts is by its very nature going to include at least a few with strong partisan feelings about their topics, an encyclopedia should strive for a more inclusive, journalistic approach than the stance taken by some – though by no means all – of the contributors to this tome. That aside, this is an excellent reference work for those seeking general background information on the Court and quick summaries of its more important decisions.

[sologdin · Rating 1 out of 5]

i'm not sure if these sorts of texts have value, despite all the hard work that goes into them. laypersons may have a difficult time making much sense of it, and professionals will go directly to the cases themselves. maybe the broad strokes historicism is a useful tertiary guide--but in the approximately two decades that i've had this on my shelf, i have consulted it exactly zero times for a professional or intellectual purpose other than perusing to see what's in it.

[Cordell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoy this book but I think Im an on my own island here. I read this because I think our country and its laws have gone off the deep end. It contains all of the Major Supreme Court decisions and unless you like that sort of thing, you will hate this book. Pretty dry, but it will allow you to see why we have to laws and case standings that we do have.

[Hannah MacLean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great information and well-organized. All super-important cases and countless minor cases are touched on in this book, as well as a great number of the people, situations, and laws that have had an impact on the United States Supreme Court.

[Craig Cunningham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this overall history. This is a fantastic starting point for understanding the historical perspective of the Court. I teach a class on the History of the U.S. Supreme Court, and this is one of the supplemental readings, that I use in working with students. I really enjoy this text.

[Kevin Altman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Political Science and Constitutional Law must!

[Calvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cut and dry history-very interesting if you enjoy the history of the Supreme Court.