Injustices: The Supreme Court's History of Comforting the Comfortable and Afflicting the Afflicted
Written by Ian Millhiser
Narrated by Joe Barrett
4/5
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About this audiobook
In this powerful indictment of a venerated institution, Ian Millhiser tells the history of the Supreme Court through the eyes of the everyday people who have suffered the most from it. America ratified three constitutional amendments to provide equal rights to freed slaves, but the justices spent thirty years largely dismantling these amendments. Then they spent the next forty years rewriting them into a shield for the wealthy and the powerful.
In Injustices, Millhiser argues that the Supreme Court has seized power for itself that rightfully belongs to the people's elected representatives, and has bent the arc of American history away from justice.
Ian Millhiser
Ian Millhiser is a senior correspondent at Vox, where he focuses on the Supreme Court, the Constitution, and the decline of liberal democracy in the United States. Before joining Vox, he was a columnist at ThinkProgress. He is the author of Injustices: The Supreme Court's History of Comforting the Comfortable and Afflicting the Afflicted, and his writings have appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian, and the Yale Law & Policy Review. He received his J.D. from Duke University and clerked for judge Eric L. Clay of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He lives in Arlington, Virginia.
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Reviews for Injustices
16 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This 2015 book is a study of Supreme Court history since the Civil War, setting out the sad story of how the Supreme Court misinterpreted the Civil War amendmnts and thus permitted Southern blacks to be denied the rights they should have had for almost a century. The book also shows other cases badly decided by the Court, incluidng Lochner, Buck v. Bell,, and the ignoring of the First Amendment in cases arising during World War One. It likewise covers the sorry role of the anti-New Deal justices and the mistaken effort to expand the Court instead of being a bit m ore patient. And the book does justice to the good work of Earl Warren in getting a unanimous decision against school segregation. and other Warren Court advances. And the author shows how close the Court came to scuttling the Affordable Care Act. All in all, the book shows good things and bad things the Supreme Court has done in the past 150 years.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hard to listen to some of the inanity displayed by the justices but, wow, what an interesting story. Fascinating book. Absolutely highly recommend! Even though the recent court cases were better described that the historical ones, it's the historical cases that really make the book stellar. So many interesting views, such partisanship... such idiocy. There are so many things that I could have done with my life and being a judge would have been fascinating but what an incredibly frustrating job that must be. It's one thing to stand by and watch your colleagues do idiotic things - many of us have to do that on a near daily basis, but to watch your colleagues display such idiocy and then change the course of the United States because they believe in some god and devil or other crazy things... wow, just wow.HIGHLY RECOMMEND (if you can tolerate frustration)