Laurence Tribe, Joshua Matz - Uncertain Justice: The Roberts Court and the Constitution

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Overview
With the Supreme Court more influential than ever, this eye-opening book tells the story of how the Roberts Court is shaking the foundation of our nation’s laws

From Citizens United to its momentous rulings regarding Obamacare and gay marriage, the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts has profoundly affected American life. Yet the court remains a mysterious institution, and the motivations of the nine men and women who serve for life are often obscure. Now, in Uncertain Justice, Laurence Tribe and Joshua Matz show the surprising extent to which the Roberts Court is revising the meaning of our Constitution.

This essential book arrives at a make-or-break moment for the nation and the court. Political gridlock, cultural change, and technological progress mean that the court’s decisions on key topics—including free speech, privacy, voting rights, and presidential power—could be uniquely durable. Acutely aware of their opportunity, the justices are rewriting critical aspects of constitutional law and redrawing the ground rules of American government. Tribe—one of the country’s leading constitutional lawyers—and Matz dig deeply into the court’s recent rulings, stepping beyond tired debates over judicial “activism” to draw out hidden meanings and silent battles. The undercurrents they reveal suggest a strikingly different vision for the future of our country, one that is sure to be hotly debated.

Filled with original insights and compelling human stories, Uncertain Justice illuminates the most colorful story of all—how the Supreme Court and the Constitution frame the way we live.

Harvard Law professor and iconic constitutional law figure Tribe and co-author Matz offer a timely analysis of the landscape-altering opinions of the Roberts Supreme Court. Roberts is depicted as part of a court divided by the obvious, competing conservative and liberal philosophies, but also a court whose Justices harbor distinct approaches to the Constitution. Tribe and Matz focus on the Court's opinions in cases that decided controversial issues including campaign finance, the Affordable Care Act, Affirmative Action, and gay rights. The legal principles argued in these landmark cases and the ramifications of the decisions, are explained in clear and understandable language. The exploration of the equally important analysis of how the personalities and personal experiences of the Justices resonate in their opinions reflects an intimate knowledge of the Court's workings. The inclusion of the heated debates between Justices is engaging and acts to humanize the Justices, although it does not necessarily make them likable. Tribe and Matz don't shy away from making critical comments on the merits of various opinions. Nevertheless, the authors are surprisingly philosophical about the Court's direction and end by claiming that the Court's decisions are part of "a long arc that bends toward justice."

Kirkus Reviews
2014-05-07
With Chief Justice John Roberts' leadership of the Supreme Court approaching its 10th anniversary, Tribe (Constitutional Law/Harvard Univ., 2008, etc.) and Matz, who clerks for a federal judge, provide a perspective on the changes reflected in the court's decision-making patterns.The co-authors cooperate in a near-forensic dissection of the court's work under Roberts, comparing the arguments of each justice on a case-by-case basis. Many of their conclusions will be eye-openers for general readers. Contrary perhaps to expectation, this is not merely an account of a consistent five-member conservative majority against a liberal minority. Conservatives—e.g., Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito—can differ from each other as much as they do from liberals like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor. Tribe and Matz fully address legal, philosophical and political motivations, and they document the general direction taking shape as one that tends to reverse law in many areas established since the New Deal. The authors systematically examine how the conflicting opinions on the court are coming together to reformulate the law's understanding of the Constitution in practice. The justices have focused much attention on cases that involve technical rules of procedure. In these cases, the court has favored big business and limited the rights of individuals to seek remedies through the courts for perceived wrongs. They have also used procedural cases to confer "near-total immunity on prosecutors and police," even undercutting aspects of Miranda rights. Certain decisions on integration, voter rights and affirmative action have raised questions about plaintiffs' future abilities to pursue any rights case in the courts. The court's decisions have also been geared toward establishing a new balance between federal and state governments and redefining congressional responsibility regarding the economy.A well-researched, unsettling investigation of recent trends in the nation's highest court