Corrupted by power : the Supreme Court and the Constitution
(2004)

Nonfiction

eBook

Provider: hoopla

Details

PUBLISHED
[United States] : iUniverse, 2004
Made available through hoopla
DESCRIPTION

1 online resource

ISBN/ISSN
9780595772933 (electronic bk.) MWT12201078, 0595772935 (electronic bk.) 12201078
LANGUAGE
English
NOTES

Alexander Hamilton called the judiciary the "least dangerous" branch of government. He was right then but wrong today. Since Hamilton's time the Supreme Court has become a cardinal example of Lord Acton's famous dictum: "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely." It is not a corruption of bribes, or even of bad intentions, but of taking upon itself the right to alter the Constitution whenever past principles offend present preferences of five or more Justices. Corrupted by Power shows how the Constitution is repeatedly changed to mean whatever the Supreme Court wants it to mean. Precedent is followed only when past decisions support current opinions. Otherwise precedents are overruled, misrepresented or ignored. A conspicuous example is the judicial manufacture of new First Amendment rights, including rights to advocate criminal behavior, publish degrading sex and extreme violence, and advertise vice. Can the Constitution be rescued? Discover what can be done

Mode of access: World Wide Web

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