Editorial Reviews
Review
“Sosin has written a perplexing book. Its title is indicative of the historical, as opposed to juridical or legalistic, methodological approach to the study of the origins of American judicial review, which in fact is the focus of the book. This orientation helps explain the extended chapters on English judicial and legal history that focus on the relations and conflicts among law, lawgivers, and judges. Successive chapters trace legislative-judicial practice and conflict in Colonial America and, later, the US. Yet Sosin announces at the outset that his book is `not an attempt at legal history but rather a study in politics.' Indeed it is. On the basis of a survey of English practice and American Colonial case law and legal controversies, the author engages in a sometimes heated complaint against the emergence of a `Transcendently Omnipotent' Court' in opposition to the historical evidence that no precedent for such a Court can be found in English or Colonial American practice. Paradoxically, his review of Colonial controversies goes a considerable distance toward establishing that judicial review was an early topic of controversy and thus not without precedent in American constitutional development. Useful for the discussions of early practice. . . . Very full notes, a limited bibliography, and an index of names round out the work. For well-informed students of American constitutionalism at upper-division undergraduate and graduate level.”–
“This study of the relationship of courts and legislatures over several hunderds of years of Anglo-American development will almost certainly become one of the essential sources for those who want to understand more thoroughly the burning issues surrounding the legitimacy of judicial review in America. In 17 chapters and hundreds of footnotes, the author has tracked down virtually every bit of evidence that exists on the history, scope, purpose, and validity of judical review. The author maintains an admirable detachment from all ideology and presents the vast material he has accumulated with clarity and balance.”–
“Sosin traces the origins of the English court system and the establishment of common law; the rise in judicial and parliamentary power that accompanied the erosion of the "royal perogative"; and the constitutional and legal heritage that shaped the development of law, courts and legislatures in colonial America. He argues that the power of judicial review was neither politically inevitable or theoretically logical, in light of the founders' desire to protect individuals against the arbitrary exercise of public authority.”–
Book Description
Is judicial review constitutionally required or even authorized? Do the federal courts exercise this power with the consent of the electorate? Sosin addresses these challenging questions in the broad context of the Anglo-American historical experience. He examines the evolution of courts of judicature and legislatures and the contests for power that were waged from the 17th to 18th century. Sosin's analysis indicates that the Court's assumption of the power of judicial review was neither inevitable politically nor the logical result of the founders desire to limit government.
The Aristocracy of the Long Robe: The Origins of Judicial Review in America (Contributions in Legal Studies)
The Aristocracy of the Long Robe: The Origins of Judicial Review in America (Contributions in Legal Studies),J.M. Sosin,Greenwood Press,0313267332,Civil Procedure,Courts,General,History,Judicial review,Law,Legal Reference / Law Profession,United States,Courts & procedure,Law / General
English Books:
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