Packing the court [Book] : the rise of judicial power and the coming crisis of the Supreme Court / James MacGregor Burns.

"MacGregor Burns has been recognized as one of the great masters of the study of power and leadership in America. Here he turns his eye to an institution of government that he believes has become more powerful, and more partisan, than the founding fathers envisioned - the Supreme Court." "Remarkable as it might seem today, the framers did not intend the Supreme Court to be the ultimate arbiter in all constitutional issues, and instead foresaw a more limited role for the highest court ill the land. As Burns reminds us, the Constitution does not grant the Supreme Court the power of judicial review - that is, the authority to strike down laws passed by Congress and signed by the president. And yet from John Marshall to John Roberts, Supreme Court justices have used this power to obstruct the acts of presidents and Congress, often derailing progressive reform as a result. In doing so, Burns argues, they have disrupted the system of checks and balances so carefully enshrined in our Constitution." "The term "packing the court" is most commonly applied to Franklin Roosevelt's failed attempt to expand the size of the court after a conservative bench repeatedly overturned key New Deal legislation, effectively blocking his efforts to fight the Great Depression. But Burns shows that FDR was not the only president to confront a high court that seemed bent on fighting popular mandates for change. Many of our most effective leaders - from Jefferson to Lincoln to the two Roosevelts - have clashed with powerful justices who refused to recognize the claims of popularly elected majorities. In Packing the Court, Burns reveals how these battles have threatened the nation's welfare in the most crucialmoments of our history, from the Civil War to the Great Depression - and may do so again." The rise of judicial power is especially troubling given the erratic and partisan appointment process. Presidents from George Washington to George W. Bush have tried to pack the bench with loyalists who reflect their views, and much as we like to believe the court remains above the political fray, Burns recounts how often justices behave like politicians in robes. Now, more than eight years after Bush v. Gore, ideological justices have the tightest grip on the court in recent memory. Drawing on over two centuries of Supreme Court history, Packing the Court offers a clear-eyed and provocative critique of judicial supremacy, and concludes with a bold proposal to strip the court of its power to frustrate democratic leadership.

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