Rachel A. Shelden - "The Political Supreme Court" - Alison L. Lacroix
Advertisement
Rachel A. Shelden will discuss "The Political Supreme Court: A Forgotten History." She will be joined in conversation by Alison L. LaCroix. A Q and A and signing will follow the discussion.
At the Co-op.
REGISTER HERE
About the book: Today's Supreme Court justices bristle at the label "politicians in robes," insisting that they operate above the fray of partisan politics. But for the first century of the nation's history, the Court was unmistakably a political institution, both by design and in practice. Justices were fully expected to engage in partisan politics—there was no concern that such engagement would lead to corruption or undue bias—and they remained deeply involved in civic debate and the electoral process while on the bench. In addition to hearing cases in the capital, each justice spent much of his time "riding circuit" and presiding over federal trial courts. On circuit and in Washington, nineteenth-century justices wrote for partisan newspapers, drafted legislation, advised partisan allies, campaigned for colleagues, and even ran for political offices from the bench. Through these political interactions, members of the Court helped shape debates about the Constitution's meaning at a time when most Americans did not believe in judicial supremacy.
In this sweeping history, Rachel A. Shelden, one of America's leading voices on the history of the Court, brings readers inside the social and political world of its justices, recovering their essential role in the era's turbulent politics. She also charts shifts at the turn of the twentieth century, when members of the Court and the legal community refashioned the judiciary as an apolitical institution, setting the stage for an increasingly more powerful—and more isolated—modern Court. "The Political Supreme Court" is required reading for anyone interested in the legal and political underpinnings of today's judicial power.
About the author: Rachel A. Shelden is associate professor of history and director of the George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center at Penn State University. A leading scholar of nineteenth-century America, Shelden is a member of the Historians Council on the Constitution at the Brennan Center for Justice.
About the interlocutor: Alison L. LaCroix is the Robert Newton Reid Professor of Law at the University of Chicago, where she is also an Associate Member of the History Department. She is a scholar of US legal history specializing in constitutional law, federalism, and eighteenth- and nineteenth-century legal thought.
At the Co-op.
REGISTER HERE
About the book: Today's Supreme Court justices bristle at the label "politicians in robes," insisting that they operate above the fray of partisan politics. But for the first century of the nation's history, the Court was unmistakably a political institution, both by design and in practice. Justices were fully expected to engage in partisan politics—there was no concern that such engagement would lead to corruption or undue bias—and they remained deeply involved in civic debate and the electoral process while on the bench. In addition to hearing cases in the capital, each justice spent much of his time "riding circuit" and presiding over federal trial courts. On circuit and in Washington, nineteenth-century justices wrote for partisan newspapers, drafted legislation, advised partisan allies, campaigned for colleagues, and even ran for political offices from the bench. Through these political interactions, members of the Court helped shape debates about the Constitution's meaning at a time when most Americans did not believe in judicial supremacy.
In this sweeping history, Rachel A. Shelden, one of America's leading voices on the history of the Court, brings readers inside the social and political world of its justices, recovering their essential role in the era's turbulent politics. She also charts shifts at the turn of the twentieth century, when members of the Court and the legal community refashioned the judiciary as an apolitical institution, setting the stage for an increasingly more powerful—and more isolated—modern Court. "The Political Supreme Court" is required reading for anyone interested in the legal and political underpinnings of today's judicial power.
About the author: Rachel A. Shelden is associate professor of history and director of the George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center at Penn State University. A leading scholar of nineteenth-century America, Shelden is a member of the Historians Council on the Constitution at the Brennan Center for Justice.
About the interlocutor: Alison L. LaCroix is the Robert Newton Reid Professor of Law at the University of Chicago, where she is also an Associate Member of the History Department. She is a scholar of US legal history specializing in constitutional law, federalism, and eighteenth- and nineteenth-century legal thought.
Advertisement
Where is it happening?
5751 S Woodlawn Ave, Chicago, IL, United States, Illinois 60637
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.
Host or PublisherThe Seminary Co-op Bookstores
