|
|
|
Book Review
| Kermit L. Hall, James W. Ely, Jr., and Joel B. Grossman, editors, The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States, 2d ed., New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Pp. xxv + 1239. $65.00 (ISBN 0-19-517661-8).
|
| The second edition of this encyclopedia concerning the United States Supreme Court continues to serve its niche admirably. The project is ambitious—condensing the vast galaxy of words and ideas produced by and about the Supreme Court into a manageable set of entries stuffed into a single 1250 page volume—and it is carried off with aplomb. As with the first edition, published in 1992, the second edition contains entries for notable cases, biographies of the justices and failed nominees, key concepts in constitutional law, interpretive essays covering important doctrines and themes in constitutional law, a long-for-an-encyclopedia (32 page) history of the Court, and legal words and phrases. The editors seek to reach a very broad audience, ranging from general readers to specialists in constitutional law and history. Thus, they have sought to portray the Court as more than a court, but as a significant cultural institution, one that is entwined with and having an impact upon many aspects of our society, not just law, politics, and economics. The result is an encyclopedia that is broad but not deep. |
1
|
|
General lay readers with an interest in the Supreme Court will find the updated edition to be a handy and informative single volume reference. It will not make the lay reader an instant expert but that is not its ambition. Constitutional law experts will find the work only modestly useful, as most of the subtlety of constitutional law is necessarily glossed over to make the work succinct and accessible to the lay reader. However, the expert will find tidbits of interest here and there, especially in the biographical entries and the last two of the three appendices, devoted to the nominations and succession of the justices and to Court trivia, respectively. Entries about the Court itself also provide odd bits of trivia. Under "Gymnasium," for example, one learns that "Basketball games are forbidden while the Court is in session, since the dribbling can be heard in the courtroom directly below" (414). |
2
|
|
Occasionally one finds misleading statements, as when it is stated that "Casey demoted abortion from the status of a constitutional right; restrictions need no longer pass the 'compelling state interest' test of Roe" (5). While the last phrase is true, and it is surely debatable what sort of constitutional right abortion has become after Casey, it is misleading to suggest that Casey ejected abortion from the pantheon of constitutional rights. Despite such minor flaws, however, the coverage is, on the whole, accurate if a bit superficial. |
3
|
|
Twelve years have elapsed since the publication of the first edition and, as the editors acknowledge, a great many important cases have been decided in that period. It is a bit surprising to find no entry for Alden v. Maine, Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs, and Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett, although Tennessee v. Lane is included. Perhaps the former cases are too arcane for inclusion, but they are of great significance to the renascent federalism project of the Rehnquist Court. Equally surprising is the omission of Democratic Party v. Jones, which voided the blanket primary, and Clinton v. City of New York, which struck down the line item veto. These omissions are not simply the result of editorial choices made for the second edition. For example, Employment Division v. Smith, the 1990 case that wrenched the free exercise clause back to its Reynolds v. United States roots, is inexplicably omitted, as is the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, the federal laws spawned by Smith that have triggered important litigation concerning the scope of Congress's power to enforce the substance of the Fourteenth Amendment. To be sure, the essence of these developments can be gleaned from other entries, but one wonders about the wisdom of the editorial choice inherent in these omissions. |
4
|
|
It is easy to be a critic, but as Theodore Roosevelt put it, the credit belongs to the man in the arena. Much credit, then, goes to the editors of and contributors to the Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States. This encyclopedia endures as a valuable reference tool that will continue to be of aid to everyone interested in the work of the Supreme Court. |
5
|
| Calvin Massey
|
| University of California, Hastings College of the Law |
|
Content in the History Cooperative database is intended for personal, noncommercial use only. You may not reproduce, publish, distribute, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, modify, create derivative works from, display, or in any way exploit the History Cooperative database in whole or in part without the written permission of the copyright holder.
|