The Character of Justice: Rhetoric, Law, And Politics in the Supreme Court Confirmation Process (Rhetoric and Public Affairs Series)

For much of American history, Supreme Court nominations attracted little public attention. The rancorous public hearings that characterize contemporary confirmation struggles were unheard of prior to the twentieth century. Today, except for presidential campaigns, no single constitutional event produces more controversy and interest than the nomination of a Supreme Court Justice. The intense scrutiny of this process is not surprising, as the Court addresses profound issues of civil rights and liberties, constitutional law, and economics policy, and the power of one vote is considerable. As it has done so many times before, regarding Bush v. Gore , the Supreme Court in 2000 inserted itself into a critical and ongoing national debate. Slavery, property rights, abortion, individual privacy, freedom of religion—all of the great issues that have confronted the United States have come before the Supreme Court for resolution. Judicial philosophies, plus ideological formation for American conceptions of law, justice, and democracy are rhetorically important. Parry-Giles examines some controversial and ideologically meaningful Supreme Court nominations from 1916 through 1987: Louis D. Brandeis, Charles Evans Hughes, John J. Parker, Thurgood Marshall, Clement F. Haynsworth Jr., G. Harrold Carswell, and Robert Bork. The book also discusses recent confirmations, including Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer. The Character of Justice points to the centrality of this process to and the ideological constitution of the American system of democracy and law. Frontmatter Acknowledgments (page ix) Chapter One Character and the Constitution: Politics in the Supreme Court Confirmation Process (page 1) Chapter Two For the Soul of the Supreme Court: The 1916 Nomination of Louis D. Brandeis (page 25) Chapter Three From Property Rights to Human Rights: The Hughes and Parker Nominations of 1930 (page 47) Chapter Four The Character of Civil Rights: The Thurgood Marshall Nomination (page 67) Chapter Five Nixon's Southern Strategy and the Supreme Court: The Haynsworth and Carswell Nominations (page 85) Chapter Six "Bork's America": Supreme Court Confirmations as Political Spectacle (page 115) Chapter Seven The Future of Supreme Court Confirmations: Beyond Bork (page 139) Epilogue Of Baseball Analogies, Crying Spouses, and the Erosion of Advice and Consent (page 157) Notes (page 165) Bibliography (page 227) Index (page 259) Judicial philosophies and ideological formation for American conceptions of law, justice, and democracy are rhetorically important. This title examines some controversial and ideologically meaningful Supreme Court nominations from 1916 through 1987: Louis D Brandeis, Charles Evans Highes, John J Parker, Thurgood Marshall, and more. American justice tends to focus on the top: the Supreme Court. Parry-Giles points to the media attention to nominations to the court and the decisions of the justices as a sure indicator that the court is not only powerful but political