The Next Justice: Repairing the Supreme Court Appointments Process
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"What an important book this is! With the next president likely to have at least one Supreme Court vacancy to fill--an appointment that could make a dramatic difference in the nation's direction for years to come--Christopher Eisgruber lays out a clear set of principles not only for the White House selection process but, more importantly, for Senate confirmation. And Eisgruber's focus is not just on the immediate policy impact; his goal is nothing less than to preserve the Constitution."--Mickey Edwards, vice president of The Aspen Institute"In this sensible and deeply considered book, Christopher Eisgruber tackles one of the most vexatious problems in contemporary American constitutionalism: what to do about the ever more perilous enterprise of Supreme Court nominations. Carefully avoiding a breathless, sensationalist approach to explaining how the Court really works, The Next Justice provides a measured account of how the modern Court has operated and the interpretive doctrines the justices apply. Eisgruber is deeply respectful of the Court, but his expectations of the Senate's role in judicial confirmations also run high. To everyone who worries that the nomination process has become a perverse caricature of what it should be, this book offers a thoughtful and compelling set of proposals for how it might yet be reformed."--Jack Rakove, Stanford University"A superb and provocative treatment of a complex topic. Everyone interested in the future of the Supreme Court, and the nature of constitutional law, will benefit from Eisgruber's careful and exceptionally illuminating analysis."--Cass R. Sunstein, University of Chicago Law School"After so many years of speaking past one another on the issue, members of the public now have, in The Next Justice, a new common language with which to discuss the qualifications of Supreme Court nominees. Unapologetically written with a clarity and transparency appropriate for the most general audience, it is a book from which everyone--including law professors, legislators, and judges themselves--can learn. With it, Christopher Eisgruber has established himself, along with giants like Ronald Dworkin and Cass Sunstein, among the important public intellectuals of our time."--Rebecca L. Brown, Vanderbilt Law School"Eisgruber's book is vital. The process by which the public and the Senate currently consider Supreme Court nominees is broken. A fresh view is badly needed. The Next Justice provides this, and it has the potential to serve as a handbook to the next confirmation hearing. For all its erudition, the book is clear, brief, and well designed for nonlawyers. It doesn't go too far to predict that the next nominee will be asked many, if not all, of the questions that Eisgruber proposes."--Martin S. Flaherty, Fordham Law School"Clearly written and containing many original ideas, this is an excellent book that I have no doubt will be widely read. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on the extent of unanimous Supreme Court rulings and what this means for understanding the role of ideology on the court."--Erwin Chemerinsky, Duke Law School"The best short, one-volume, incisive account of what the Supreme Court actually does."--Linda Greenhouse, Knight Distinguished Journalist-in-Residence and Joseph M. Goldstein Senior Fellow in Law, Yale Law School Charles S. Doskow - The Federal Lawyer The Next Justice contains many interesting descriptions of the Court, including its inner workings, the role of the law clerks, and the process of decision-making. Eisgruber has a great deal of respect for the Supreme Court as an institution, and he would like to have a confirmation process worthy of the Court. So would we all.
Preface ix1 A Broken Process in Partisan Times 12 Why Judges Cannot Avoid Political Controversy 173 The Incoherence of Judicial Restraint 314 Politics at the Court 515 Why Judges Sometimes Agree When Politicians Cannot 736 Judicial Philosophies and Why They Matter 987 How Presidents Have Raised the Stakes 1248 Should the Senate Defer to the President? 1449 How to Change the Hearings 16410 What Kinds of Justices Should We Want? 17811 The Path Forward 186Notes 193Index 225
