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Dissent and the Supreme Court
- Its Role in the Court's History and the Nation's Constitutional Dialogue
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 19 hrs and 23 mins
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Publisher's summary
From the admired judicial authority, author of Louis D. Brandeis (“Remarkable”—Anthony Lewis, The New York Review of Books; “Monumental”—Alan M. Dershowitz, The New York Times Book Review), Division and Discord, and Supreme Decisions—Melvin Urofsky’s major new book looks at the role of dissent in the Supreme Court and the meaning of the Constitution through the greatest and longest lasting public-policy debate in the country’s history, among members of the Supreme Court, between the Court and the other branches of government, and between the Court and the people of the United States.
Urofsky writes of the necessity of constitutional dialogue as one of the ways in which we as a people reinvent and reinvigorate our democratic society. In Dissent and the Supreme Court, he explores the great dissents throughout the Court’s 225-year history. He discusses in detail the role the Supreme Court has played in helping to define what the Constitution means, how the Court’s majority opinions have not always been right, and how the dissenters, by positing alternative interpretations, have initiated a critical dialogue about what a particular decision should mean. This dialogue is sometimes resolved quickly; other times it may take decades before the Court adjusts its position. Louis Brandeis’s dissenting opinion about wiretapping became the position of the Court four decades after it was written. The Court took six decades to adopt the dissenting opinion of the first Justice John Harlan in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)—that segregation on the basis of race violated the Constitution—in Brown v. Board of Education (1954).
Urofsky shows that the practice of dissent grew slowly but steadily and that in the nineteenth century dissents became more frequent. In the (in)famous case of Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857), Chief Justice Roger Taney’s opinion upheld slavery, declaring that blacks could never be citizens. The justice received intense condemnations from several of his colleagues, but it took a civil war and three constitutional amendments before the dissenting view prevailed and Dred Scott was overturned.
Urofsky looks as well at the many aspects of American constitutional life that were affected by the Earl Warren Court—free speech, race, judicial appointment, and rights of the accused—and shows how few of these decisions were unanimous, and how the dissents in the earlier cases molded the results of later decisions; how with Roe v. Wade—the Dred Scott of the modern era—dissent fashioned subsequent decisions, and how, in the Court, a dialogue that began with the dissents in Roe has shaped every decision since.
Urofsky writes of the rise of conservatism and discusses how the resulting appointments of more conservative jurists to the bench put the last of the Warren liberals—William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall—in increasingly beleaguered positions, and in the minority. He discusses the present age of incivility, in which reasoned dialogue seems less and less possible. Yet within the Marble Palace, the members of the Supreme Court continue to hear arguments, vote, and draft majority opinions, while the minority continues to “respectfully dissent.” The Framers understood that if a constitution doesn’t grow and adapt, it atrophies and dies, and if it does, so does the democratic society it has supported. Dissent—on the Court and off, Urofsky argues—has been a crucial ingredient in keeping the Constitution alive and must continue to be so.
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Critic reviews
“A wide-ranging and intriguing study of how the justices of the United States Supreme Court have dissented from majority opinions and how we should think about them . . . Invaluable . . . Creative and well-researched.” —Linda Przybyszewski, American Journal of Legal History
“Brilliant . . . Urofsky’s expertise as a historian and student of the Supreme Court brings depth and richness to his treatment of this fascinating subject . . . A good read for those who find the workings of the Court of special interest.” —Ronald Goldfarb, Washington Lawyer
“One of the nation’s great legal historians . . . masterfully recounts the history of dissent on the court, from its early days, when dissents were rare and strongly discouraged, to the modern era, when they often outnumbered majority opinions. —David Cole, The Washington Post
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U.S. Constitution for Dummies
- 2nd Edition
- By: Dr. Michael Arnheim
- Narrated by: Dr. Michael Arnheim
- Length: 18 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Want to make sense of the US Constitution? This new edition walks you through this revered document, explaining how the articles and amendments came to be and how they have guided legislators, judges, and presidents - and sparked ongoing debates along the way. You'll get the lowdown on all the big issues - from separation of church and state to impeachment to civil rights - that continue to affect Americans' daily lives. Plus, you'll find out about the different approaches to interpretation and how the document has changed over the past 200+ years.
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Much better than I anticipated.
- By JoEllen LeVitre on 08-30-20
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A People's History of the Supreme Court
- The Men and Women Whose Cases and Decisions Have Shaped Our Constitution
- By: Peter Irons, Howard Zinn - foreword
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 28 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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A comprehensive history of the people and cases that have changed history, this is the definitive account of the nation's highest court.
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Really enjoyed this book
- By Paul on 02-19-20
By: Peter Irons, and others
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The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution
- By: Kevin R.C. Gutzman
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Instead of the system that the Constitution intended, judges have created a system in which bureaucrats and appointed officials make most of the important policies. While the government claims to be a representative republic, somehow hot-button topics from gay marriage to the allocation of Florida's presidential electors always seem to be decided by unelected judges. What gives them the right to decide such issues? The judges say it's the Constitution.
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The best PIG to date
- By Matthew Groom on 05-16-08
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Supreme Power
- 7 Pivotal Supreme Court Decisions That Had a Major Impact on America
- By: Ted Stewart
- Narrated by: Art Allen
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Best-selling author Ted Stewart explains how the Supreme Court and its nine appointed members now stand at a crucial point in their power to hand down momentous and far-ranging decisions. Today's Court affects every major area of American life, from health care to civil rights, from abortion to marriage. This fascinating book reveals the complex history of the Court as told through seven pivotal decisions.
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Polemical, downright ridiculous at times
- By Joe Igla on 11-04-17
By: Ted Stewart
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The Constitution Today
- Timeless Lessons for the Issues of Our Era
- By: Akhil Reed Amar
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 19 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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When the stories that lead our daily news involve momentous constitutional questions, present-minded journalists and busy citizens cannot always see the stakes clearly. In The Constitution Today, Akhil Reed Amar, America's preeminent constitutional scholar, considers the biggest and most bitterly contested debates of the last two decades. He shows how the Constitution's text, history, and structure are a crucial repository of collective wisdom, providing specific rules and grand themes relevant to every organ of the American body politic.
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Amar is a Brilliant Arguer
- By MJ Schirmer on 11-16-16
By: Akhil Reed Amar
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The Bill of Rights Primer
- A Citizen's Guidebook to the American Bill of Rights
- By: Akhil Reed Amar, Les Adams
- Narrated by: Tim Lundeen
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Many Americans reference the Bill of Rights, a document that represents many of the freedoms that define the United States. Who doesn’t know about the First Amendment’s freedom of religion or Second Amendment’s right to bear arms? In this succinct volume, Akhil Reed Amar and Les Adams offer a wealth of knowledge about the Bill of Rights that goes beyond a basic understanding.The Bill of Rights Primer is an authoritative guide to all American freedoms. Uncluttered and well-organized, this audiobook is perfect for those who want to study up on the Bill of Rights without needing a law degree to do so.
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At this length, basic; but at that, great
- By Philo on 06-10-15
By: Akhil Reed Amar, and others
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The Conscience of the Constitution
- The Declaration of Independence and the Right to Liberty
- By: Timothy Sandefur
- Narrated by: James Foster
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Timothy Sandefur's insightful book provides a dramatic new challenge to the status quo of constitutional law and argues a vital truth: our Constitution was written not to empower democracy, but to secure liberty. Yet the overemphasis on democracy by today's legal community - rather than the primacy of liberty, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence - has helped expand the scope of government power at the expense of individual rights.
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Liberty!
- By David W. Norman on 05-03-15
By: Timothy Sandefur
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Corruption in America
- From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United
- By: Zephyr Teachout
- Narrated by: Jo Anna Perrin
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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For two centuries, the Framers' ideas about political corruption flourished in the courts, even in the absence of clear rules governing voters, civil officers, and elected officials. In the 1970s, the U.S. Supreme Court began to narrow the definition of corruption, and the meaning has since changed dramatically. No case makes that clearer than Citizens United.
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Law Review+
- By Ben P. on 01-02-17
By: Zephyr Teachout
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Gideon's Trumpet
- How One Man, a Poor Prisoner, Took His Case to the Supreme Court - and Changed the Law of the United States
- By: Anthony Lewis
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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A history of the landmark case of Clarence Earl Gideon's fight for the right to legal counsel.
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best book on the subject
- By J.B. Price on 06-12-18
By: Anthony Lewis
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The Supreme Court
- By: William H. Rehnquist
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Chief Justice Rehnquist's engaging writing illuminates both the high and low points in the Court's history, from Chief Justice Marshall's dominance of the Court during the early 19th century through the landmark decisions of the Warren Court. Citing cases such as the Dred Scott decision and Roosevelt's Court-packing plan, Rehnquist makes clear that the Court does not operate in a vacuum, that the justices are unavoidably influenced by their surroundings, and that their decisions have real and lasting impacts on our society.
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Absorbing
- By Jean on 01-28-18
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How Alexander Hamilton Screwed Up America
- By: Brion McClanahan
- Narrated by: Thomas Rosenfeld
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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He is the star of a hit Broadway musical, the face on the 10-dollar bill, and a central figure among the founding fathers. But do you really know Alexander Hamilton? Rather than lionize Hamilton, Americans should carefully consider his most significant and ultimately detrimental contribution to modern society: the shredding of the United States Constitution. Connecting the dots between Hamilton's invention of implied powers in 1791 to transgender bathrooms and same-sex marriage today, Brion McClanahan shows the origins of our modern federal leviathan.
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Thank You Audible
- By No to Statism on 10-03-18
By: Brion McClanahan
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Freedom for the Thought That We Hate
- A Biography of the First Amendment
- By: Anthony Lewis
- Narrated by: Stow Lovejoy
- Length: 5 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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More than any other people on earth, Americans are free to say and write what they think. The reason for this extraordinary freedom is not a superior culture of tolerance, but just 14 words in our most fundamental legal document: the free expression clauses of the First Amendment to the Constitution.
Anthony Lewis tells us how these rights were created, revealing a story of hard choices, heroic (and some less heroic) judges, and fascinating and eccentric defendants who forced the legal system to come face-to-face with one of America's great founding ideas.
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Freedom of Expression: 163 years of Solitude
- By Dudley H. Williams on 12-21-11
By: Anthony Lewis
What listeners say about Dissent and the Supreme Court
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Paul Smith
- 05-29-16
In some ways disturbing
I liked this book because the subject is critical to understand our current situation. Fill in your own blank for "current situation". What made it even better is that I couldn't tell which side ( liberal or conservative) the professor took until the very last chapter, which unfortunately is unusual for law professors who write books.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Amazon1966
- 03-18-22
This is a fantastic, heavy read
I LOVE this book. I've taken a long time to get through it-if I was actually reading it, it would be so dog eared and highlighted! Such incredible research went into the writing of this book. Anyone who is interested in the Supreme Court should listen to this. The history lesson has been fascinating and the background on SO MANY cases has really educated me. This will be the first time I've ever searched for a narrator's voice-Dan Woren does an incredible job, I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to his voice-and will say, there are other voices that would have ruined this book.
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- Mike
- 02-23-21
Well made
Excellent book, I listened to most of the constitutional law books on Audible and wasn’t expecting too learn much new from this one. However the focus of dissent specifically was very interesting and the book was in general had a very very high quality as far as writing style and research. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in the supreme court or Con law.
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1 person found this helpful
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- J. Taranto
- 11-22-16
Great Topic but...
The topic is one that greatly interests me. There were many great cases discussed. The author interjected biased opinions which I wished were kept out of an historical presentation of the topic.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jean
- 08-30-16
Incisive
A few years ago I started reading the biographies of Supreme Court Justices. I found their stories and that of the Court fascinating. Since then I have been reading about the Supreme Court and want to know more about the law. I found this book absolutely captivating; but I am sure the readers with law degrees will already know the material and if one is not interested they might be bored.
Melvin Urofsky traced the history of dissents from the founding era to the present. The author attempts to determine what value can be found in dissenting opinions. Urofsky states that dissents are an essential part of the “constitutional dialogue,” the device by which our nation has adapted to the changing times.
Urofsky reviews not only the Supreme Court but various State Supreme Courts and some foreign courts particularly France as it compares to the United States. The author also spends some time comparing the difference between the Supreme Court of Canada to that of the United States. Urofsky discusses in detail some of the famous dissents and some history of the Justices who wrote them. Some of the people he covers are John Marshall, Louis Brandeis, John Marshall Harlan, Hugo Black, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Stephen Breyer, Antonin Scalia, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and Felix Frankfurter. Urofsky does provide a brief historical overview of the Court.
The book is elegantly written and meticulously researched. The author provided a balance between the people and the issues which helped maintain interest. I found the discussion about how various countries consider their laws most interesting. Urofsky is a law professor and historian; I have read a number of his books with great enjoyment.
Dan Woren does an excellent job narrating the book. Woren is an actor and voice over actor who is a well-known narrator of audiobooks.
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8 people found this helpful
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- L.D.
- 11-05-16
Awesome Book & Read Well
I am a lawyer only a little over a year out of law school. I don't have much time these days to engage in thoughtful reading like before and so audible books are the way to go for me. This particular one I was unsure about before I purchased because I did not think I would simply hearing about dissents. I did not think they would be engaging nor did I believe it would provide any great historical insights. Never have I been more wrong. Both these worries were quickly forgotten as I stared listening and before long I couldn't wait to get in my car so I could listen to this book. A must have for anybody with the slightest interest in constitutional dialogue.
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2 people found this helpful
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- M. E. Blackman
- 02-01-19
Disappointing
As an attorney, I look for objectivity in legal analysis and legal history books, especially those directed to a lay audience. This author fails miserably, especially in his analysis of more recent constitutional debates. If you want biased reinforcement of a political agenda, however, by all means- spend a credit on this one.
(And the review function isn’t working correctly- it won’t let me assign the “not for me” one star rating to this.)
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1 person found this helpful