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Overview"In the waning days of his presidency, in January 1801, John Adams made some historic appointments to preserve his Federalist legacy. Foremost among them, he named his secretary of state, John Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court-neither of them anticipating that Marshall would soon need to decide the most crucial case in Supreme Court history-Marbury vs. Madison. The Activist is the story of that case and its impact on American history. It revolved around a suit brought by Federalist William Marbury and 3 others that unwittingly set off a Constitutional debate that has reverberated for more than two centuries, for the case introduced a principle (""judicial review"") at the heart of our democracy: does the Supreme Court have the right to interpret the Constitution and the law. Acclaimed narrative historian Larry Goldstone makes this early American legal drama come alive for readers today as a seminal moment in our history, chronicling, as it does, the formation and foundation of the Supreme Court. But it has ever since given cover to justices, like Antonin Scalia today, who assert the Court's power over the meaning of the Constitution.That Marshall's opinion was also the very height of the judicial activism that Scalia, John Roberts, and their fellow conservatives deplore promises to be one of American history's great ironies. The debate began in 1801, and continues to this day-and in Lawrence Goldstone's hands, it has never been more interesting or relevant for general readers." Full Product DetailsAuthor: Lawrence GoldstonePublisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA Imprint: Walker & Co Dimensions: Width: 14.00cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 21.00cm Weight: 0.284kg ISBN: 9780802717597ISBN 10: 0802717594 Pages: 304 Publication Date: 04 January 2011 Audience: General/trade , General Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Out of Print Availability: Awaiting stock Table of ContentsReviews<p>“ The Activist begins with a telling quotation in which Justice Scalia concedes that the Supreme Court's power to pass judgment on the constitutionality of statutes was “made . . . up” (p. 1). Justice Scalia was referring to Marbury v. Madison, which Lawrence Goldstone offers as the “seminal case in American jurisprudence” (p. 2). Dr. Goldstone begins by sketching the background context of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and the personal history of Chief Justice Marshall, whose opinion in Marbury is described as “perhaps the most adroit exhibition of judicial legerdemain by any judge in the nation's history” (p. 216). Dr. Goldstone then explicates Marbury's role in establishing the power of judicial review, asking whether the Founders would have intended the Court to enjoy the power it wields as the ultimate arbiter of constitutionality. He concludes that the answer is no--to him, the Marbury decision represented little more than R Author InformationLawrence Goldstone holds a Ph.D. in American Constitutional Studies, and is the author of several highly praised works of narrative history, including Dark Bargain: Slavery, Profits, and the Struggle for the Constitution; and, with his wife, Nancy, Out of the Flames and The Friar and the Cipher. He is also the author of the novel, The Anatomy of Deception, published in January 2008. He lives in Westport, Connecticut. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |