Cato Supreme Court Review, 2008-2009

Cato Supreme Court Review, 2008-2009
Ilya Shapiro | 2009-10-25 00:00:00 | Cato Institute | 250 | Constitutional Law
Cases critiqued in the 2008-2009 edition include major Court decisions on the Voting Rights Act, reverse racial discrimination in employment, the conflict between free speech and religious establishment, the regulation of pharmaceutical drugs, and important cases in the areas of criminal procedure, antitrust, and labor law.
Reviews
It's hard to complain about such a serious work produced in a rapid time after the closing of the term. The scholarship is significant and detailed, with analysis well beyond simple descriptions of the backgrounds and arguments for the cases.



This term was not the most exciting, however, compared to recent years and what happened in the 2009 term, with a new justice and some major, highly publicized cases, such as "Citizens United". Of course, "Ricci" is the exception, as it seemed to swamp the others in 2008-09. Kenneth Marcus nicely articulates the fundamental tension in a no-win case that still leaves many open questions about, as he says, "disparate impact" vs. "equal protection".



Even in a relatively quiet year, the essays make for solid reading, with an in-depth look at the fourth and sixth amendments that were two of the highlights. In the Ten Commandments case, I appreciated Patrick Garry's highlight of the significance of the "government speech" angle relative to the First Amendment in a way I and many others often overlook.



I thought the opening essay was relatively weak compared to other volumes, perhaps a bit too lawyerly in style for my taste.


Reviews
Cato Supreme Court Review 2008-2009 provides an in-depth review of the Supreme Court's 2008-09 term, providing an annual publication bringing together leading scholars and practitioners to provide a critique of the Court's most important decisions. The review appears less than three months after the Court's term ends and is directed to legal experts, but non-attorneys also interested in the Court's work will find this accessible. Legal libraries in particular will find this an important reference.



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