Essay on "U.S. Courts Until Bob Woodward"

Essay 4 pages (1409 words) Sources: 9

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Unfortunately, and not unexpectedly, not all the members of the Court at the time that the book was published cooperated in Toobin's effort.

In his book Toobin provides brief profiles of each of the Justices but the true value of his book is in his evaluation of the importance of maintaining a Court that is beyond the reach of public scrutiny. He argues that having a body of government that is isolated from daily scrutiny is a valuable component of the U.S. Government. Toobin believes that having the Supreme Court being covered by the media solely on the basis of public events and printed releases is good for the democracy. It allows the Court to perform its responsibilities free from public pressure and allows the Justices the time and luxury to render decisions that are reasoned and as free from political considerations as possible.

Toobin, as a reporter and law school graduate, is in the unique position of evaluating how the Court has been able to successfully maintain its air of secrecy. He attributes a great deal of this success to his fellow reporters. Over the years the print and broadcast media have afforded the Court with a measure of respect that is reserved only for that institution and which has never been extended to the legislative or executive branches. As a result of the media's treatment of the Supreme Court, the mystique surrounding the Court has been maintained and the public's knowledge of the body has remained controlled.

Although Toobin does a good job of examining the workings of the Court the book actually provides very few actual surprises and, given Toobin's explanation of how the media has covered the Court, this is not surprising. Toobin's book attempted to uncover the mystique of the Court but, instead, merely continued the mystery.

The concept of stare decisis is fundamental to the common law system in the United States. It provides the American legal system with a sense of continuity and predictability that lends credibility to how the laws are applied in the United States. In a law review article written by Boston Law Professor Oona Hathaway, the history of stare decisis in the United States is examined. The article, Path Dependence in the Law: The Course and Pattern of Legal Change in a Common Law System (Hathaway, 2001), traces the history of stare decisis throughout history and how it developed. In doing so, Hathaway explains how the historical path of a specific issue of law contributes to its outcome and its particular application. In extensive detail the article's author argues strongly that understanding the history of the law is essential to understanding the law in its present form. As important as stare decisis is to the American legal system, the author clearly makes his point that stare decisis does not occur in a vacuum and that history dictates how each and every legal doctrine is created and developed.

The issue as to the application of the death penalty in the United States continues to be debated. Despite a worldwide trend toward the abolishment of the death penalty, the United States continues to defy this trend with a large majority of states still maintaining capital punishment statutes on their books. In an extensive article, Roger Hood, examines how capital punishment is viewed throughout the world and offers reasons for why the practice is still maintained in the United States (Hood, 2001). Hood reviews why the movement toward the abolishment of capital punishment has been successful and attempts to explain why the countries that have retained capital punishment have done so. Hood also attempts to predict the future of the capital punishment not only where it has been abolished but also in the jurisdictions where it has been retained.

References

Hathaway, O.A. (2001). Path Dependence in the Law: The Course and Pattern of Legal Change in a Common Law System. Iowa Law Review, 101-165.

Hood, R. (2001). Capital Punishment. Punishment & Society, 331-354.

Toobin, J. (2007). The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court. New York: Doubleday.

Woodward, B. And Scott Armstrong.(1996). The Brethren: Iniside the Supreme Court. New York: Avon Books.

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