sgf8
16th November 2008, 03:20 PM
The goal of Peter Irons is to bring the personal element to the Supreme Court cases we know only by "this v. that." He is successful in spades, readers learn the back-story to cases from the first days of the Constitution to 2006, along the way he allows us to see the Justices as real people, not the stogy old white men commonly though of.
This is 531pages of information, told with as much detail as needed, with an element of "People's Magazine" thrown in to keep interest high. Almost too much information is included, yet I found myself spending more and more time on Wikipedia tempted by the need to know more. I wrote the word "Wow" in the margins on more than one page, I even had to keep sharpening my pencil because of all the underlining and notes I kept making.
This is only my first read of this encompassing book, I would have liked a time-line of the Justices along with the Presidents that appointed them, and a brief history of society at that time, plus extra space where I could include my notes.
Why am I including this book on a skeptical forum? While the entire book is a great read on American history, I would like to offer the last few chapters to those who are a little gray on their understanding of recent social issues. I think everyone knows what Roe v. Wade is, maybe some even know who Roe is and some of her history. But I doubt that many remember Thalidomide and "Romper Room" celebrity Sherri Finkbine. Irons explains the passion behind the abortion debate, and brings the issue into today's world with information on what partial-birth abortions really mean, and the controversy surrounding it.
Never a dull moment in U.S. Constitution history, Iron's explains gay's struggles to gain legal recognition by giving us the history behind the men arrested for sodomy. Note: Police don't always knock. In the current political climate of 2008 and California's recent approval of a Constitutional change allowing marriage reserved for opposite genders only, the discussions in this chapter are very relevant. Prompting my son and I into a interesting discussion of past cases that might be used to challenge Prop. 8, (back to Wikipedia).
The right to die issue is not ignored, most of a chapter explains the history behind this hot topic. Sadly the book is not current enough to include Terri Schiavo's tragic history.
Also of importance to most skeptics is the discussions of church - state separation. Reading through the entire book, I feel that this is a topic very near to heart of the author as it is to me. The later chapter he devotes to this topic, "One Nation Under God" is split into separate discussions concerning the pledge, 10 Commandments, and prayer in schools.
I found myself cheering on some of the Justices, only in later cases to boo them. I always thought that interpreting the Constitution is fairly simple, just read the darn thing and you will know what it means. In the wisdom of our founding fathers they made the Constitution fairly vague, a "living breathing document" is how I've heard it described, and it truly is. I don't envy those in a hundred years or so looking at past cases, pulling up obscure ones to justify the social issues that will be current in the future, imagine that.
Susan
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This is 531pages of information, told with as much detail as needed, with an element of "People's Magazine" thrown in to keep interest high. Almost too much information is included, yet I found myself spending more and more time on Wikipedia tempted by the need to know more. I wrote the word "Wow" in the margins on more than one page, I even had to keep sharpening my pencil because of all the underlining and notes I kept making.
This is only my first read of this encompassing book, I would have liked a time-line of the Justices along with the Presidents that appointed them, and a brief history of society at that time, plus extra space where I could include my notes.
Why am I including this book on a skeptical forum? While the entire book is a great read on American history, I would like to offer the last few chapters to those who are a little gray on their understanding of recent social issues. I think everyone knows what Roe v. Wade is, maybe some even know who Roe is and some of her history. But I doubt that many remember Thalidomide and "Romper Room" celebrity Sherri Finkbine. Irons explains the passion behind the abortion debate, and brings the issue into today's world with information on what partial-birth abortions really mean, and the controversy surrounding it.
Never a dull moment in U.S. Constitution history, Iron's explains gay's struggles to gain legal recognition by giving us the history behind the men arrested for sodomy. Note: Police don't always knock. In the current political climate of 2008 and California's recent approval of a Constitutional change allowing marriage reserved for opposite genders only, the discussions in this chapter are very relevant. Prompting my son and I into a interesting discussion of past cases that might be used to challenge Prop. 8, (back to Wikipedia).
The right to die issue is not ignored, most of a chapter explains the history behind this hot topic. Sadly the book is not current enough to include Terri Schiavo's tragic history.
Also of importance to most skeptics is the discussions of church - state separation. Reading through the entire book, I feel that this is a topic very near to heart of the author as it is to me. The later chapter he devotes to this topic, "One Nation Under God" is split into separate discussions concerning the pledge, 10 Commandments, and prayer in schools.
I found myself cheering on some of the Justices, only in later cases to boo them. I always thought that interpreting the Constitution is fairly simple, just read the darn thing and you will know what it means. In the wisdom of our founding fathers they made the Constitution fairly vague, a "living breathing document" is how I've heard it described, and it truly is. I don't envy those in a hundred years or so looking at past cases, pulling up obscure ones to justify the social issues that will be current in the future, imagine that.
Susan
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