I Dissent, Mark Tushnet
I Dissent, Mark Tushnet
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I Dissent
Great Opposing Opinions in Landmark Supreme Court Cases

Author: Mark Tushnet

Narrator: Mark Tushnet

Unabridged: 6 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/18/2018


Synopsis

For the first time, a collection of dissents from the most famous Supreme Court cases

If American history can truly be traced through the majority decisions in landmark Supreme Court cases, then what about the dissenting opinions? In issues of race, gender, privacy, workers' rights, and more, would advances have been impeded or failures rectified if the dissenting opinions were in fact the majority opinions?

In offering thirteen famous dissents-from Marbury v. Madison and Brown v. Board of Education to Griswold v. Connecticut and Lawrence v. Texas, each edited with the judges' eloquence preserved-renowned Supreme Court scholar Mark Tushnet reminds us that court decisions are not pronouncements issued by the utterly objective, they are in fact political statements from highly intelligent but partisan people. Tushnet introduces readers to the very concept of dissent in the courts and then provides useful context for each case, filling in gaps in the Court's history and providing an overview of the issues at stake. After each case, he considers the impact the dissenting opinion would have had, if it had been the majority decision.

Lively and accessible, I Dissent offers a radically fresh view of the judiciary in a collection that is essential reading for anyone interested in American history.

About Mark Tushnet

Mark Tushnet is William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. His books include Why the Constitution Matters and In the Balance: Law and Politics on the Roberts Court. He lives in Washington, DC.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Debra on June 06, 2019

The base cases in this brief book are familiar, the dissenting opinions less so. In an era when settled case law is being challenged again, it behooves citizens to be familiar with these legal principles.......more

Goodreads review by David on December 03, 2023

I abandon this work at the halfway point, with this thought: why bother writing a book about the supposedly great dissents, if none of them mattered very much? Because that is the take-away idea for all the dissents I have waded through so far: any sense of moral outrage ringing down through the age......more

Goodreads review by Ben on June 02, 2020

Law /supreme court statements is much more interesting and readable than I would have guessed. All of what 25 year old me might have said and thought was clever is right there (i.e. laws are just made up, law is just politics in disguise etc) and said openly and more cleverly. There are some literal......more

Goodreads review by Aaron on January 13, 2009

An excellent book on Constitutional Law and at the same time on general issues with government, policy, social movements, and rights. Law Professor Mark Tushnet explores the meaning and the context of 16 famous Supreme Court cases and their legacy through opposing opinions. Each chapter is introduce......more

Goodreads review by Cheryl on October 16, 2015

I became a lawyer because of the compelling language of the legal cases I studied in my criminal justice classes in undergrad. So when I came across this book it appealed to the same aspects of my legal instincts. Some of the cases and opinions in this book were more interesting than others and I th......more


Quotes

An important reminder that strong challenges have been made to the best and worst in American constitutional development and that responsibility for the best lies as much in the citizenry as Supreme Court justices.—Mark A. Graber, author of Dred Scott and the Problem of Constitutional Evil