Experimental Blog #29

Comments on the book "Supreme Conflict - The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court" by Jan Crawford Greenburg

Jan Crawford Greenburg's book on the politics and recent history of the United States Supreme Court is, naturally, supremely interesting and informative. It is especially so from about the time of 1981, the year Sandra Day O'Conner was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, to about 2006.
This book is also more specifically informative and interesting about the court appointments and careers of Justices William Rehnquist, Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, and David Souter, as well as the more recent appointments of Justices John Roberts and Sam Alito.
The author also describes in very informative detail the concepts of the "New Federalism", first heard during the presidency of Richard Nixon, and "judicial restraint". Both concepts are associated with Republican Party efforts to transform, overrule, or "roll back" some of the earlier liberal court rulings. The author writes that these efforts failed several times, but eventually succeeded.
Jan Crawford Greenburg also describes very interestingly the Supreme Court's involvement and rulings in the stalled election of the year 2000, between George W. Bush and Al Gore.