People v. The Court
The Next Revolution in Constitutional Law
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Published:21st Aug '25
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This book explains how the Supreme Court broke American democracy and how the Court can help fix it.
The Constitution is designed to ensure that citizens control the government, but the Supreme Court has abused judicial review to undermine popular control of the government. This book proposes changes in constitutional doctrine to enable We the People to reclaim our rightful place as sovereigns in a constitutional democracy.The Constitution divides power between the government and We the People. It grants We the People an affirmative, collective right to exercise control over the government through our elected representatives. The Supreme Court has abused its power of judicial review and subverted popular control of the government. The Court's doctrine divides constitutional law into rights issues and structural issues. Structural constitutional doctrine ignores the Constitution's division of power between the government and We the People. The Court's rights doctrines fail to recognize that the Constitution grants the People an affirmative, collective right to exercise control over our government. People v. The Court presents an indictment of the Supreme Court's constitutional doctrine. It also provides a set of proposals for revolutionary changes in the practice of judicial review that are designed to enable We the People to reclaim our rightful place as sovereigns in a democratic, constitutional order.
'Professor Sloss's proposal for a new constitutional revolution is most intriguing in its suggestion that we can get the best of the worlds of constitutionalism and democracy by using expansive exercises of national power and international human rights law (override-able by subsequent national legislation) to protect individual rights from legislative and executive abuses.' Mark Tushnet, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law Emeritus, Harvard Law School
'In an erudite and deeply researched book, David Sloss has blended empirical evidence, legal analysis, and democratic theory to mount a radical and welcome challenge to the rigid orthodoxies of American constitutional law. This is a terrific and much needed effort to reframe debates that are at risk of becoming stale or irrelevant.' Aziz Z. Huq, Frank and Bernice J. Greenberg Professor of Law, University of Chicago
'David Sloss has given us a carefully documented but highly readable roadmap to counter the rise of autocratic abuse of our Constitution. As he says, it is time to respond with legitimate 'constitutional hardball'.' Russell Feingold, past President of the American Constitution Society and former U.S. Senator
ISBN: 9781009651257
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
290 pages