The Supreme Court Phalanx: The Court's New Right-Wing Bloc

In addition to serving as one of the leading thinkers in the area of legal philosophy, Ronald Dworkin has had an effective career as a political commentator in such publications as the "New York Review of Books" and "The New Republic." This short paperback, running some 70 pages (but lacking an index) reprints four of his essays from the NYRB that appeared between October 05 and August 07. One of his major themes, which has been echoed by many others, is the ineffectual nature of the Supreme Court confirmation process. This is particularly significant for Dworkin since he believes Gore v. Bush "foreshadowed" the end of Supreme Court moderation. Dworkin wants the hearings to rigorously probe the "constitutional philosophy" of the nominee, which he sees as the only safeguard against the typical evasive answers that usually are offered to Senatorial questions. Otherwise we end up with the "pointless recital of an established script" such as occurred in the Alito hearings. Dworkin finds some danger signs in Alito's DOJ memos and his decisions while on the Third Circuit. He also argues that Alito misled the Judiciary Committee on his dedication to precedent. Both Alito and Roberts Dworkin concludes engage in "silent" overruling of past precedents. The third and fourth chapters deal with abortion and "stealth" overruling in affirmative action, campaign finance, first amendment rights in schools and standing to challenge the expenditure of public monies for religious purposes. Whatever you can say about Dworkin's adrenalin here and his vigorous advocacy of a philosophy at odds with the current Court majority, his articles proved to be remarkably prescient, as many of his predictions about Robert, Alito and their Court unfortunately have come to pass.