Peter Irons

Because it's mentioned in [b:The Supremes' Greatest Hits, Revised & Updated Edition: The 37 Supreme Court Cases That Most Directly Affect Your Life|8249631|The Supremes' Greatest Hits, Revised & Updated Edition The 37 Supreme Court Cases That Most Directly Affect Your Life|Michael G. Trachtman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1274224975s/8249631.jpg|13097288]. But probably not worth bothering with, (for me), because it's no newer.
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Ok, I've looked over a copy and read several pages (in the middle, about cases that interest me). And it turns out that the reason it doesn't particularly interest me is because it's more about the people rather than the cases themselves. I'm weird that way, but I do prefer my lessons more 'dry.'… (more)

We begin, as they say, from the beginning. The year is 1787 and the controversies of the day are slavery and racial segregation, free speech and a woman's right to end her pregnancy. Aren't we still battling against racial discrimination? Aren't we still fighting for free speech and women's rights? It is disheartening to think we have been railing against crooked judges since the beginning of the Supreme Court. Its inception had a rocky start. Rutledge was deranged and Wilson was jailed for debt, just to name a few examples. It makes you realize the abuse of power really is timeless. McKinley was able to place a brilliant conservative justice with an incompetent one. Fear and intimidation has not changed. Since the beginning of the Supreme Court there have been men who serve as chief justice who cannot separate personal bias from judicial duty.
On the other hand, time marches on and some things do change. At the time of writing, Irons's world consisted of a Supreme Court that had been mostly all white and mostly all old men. We have made some strides to having a diversified Supreme Court. So...there is that. Also, consider this: in the 1920's a woman had her own minimum wage.
I could go on and on. Last comment:Even though this is geared towards a tenth grade reader, it is an important book. Everyone should take a stab at it. If not to see where we are going, but to see where we have been.… (more)