Making Our Democracy Work
A Judge's View

When the judicial branch of our government – the only unelected portion – is attacked as being “activist”, I cannot help but think that the portion of the American electorate that thinks this is woefully unaware not just of how the judicial system works, but also lacking in a basic understanding of......more

Aimed at the non-specialist, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer's book does a good job at using some of the more important cases in the history of the Court to sketch his personal approach to the Constitution. He then discusses these cases in relation to how he formed his moderate, consequentialist, a......more

Justice Breyer's book is definitely pitched to non-lawyers, which makes it hard for me (specialized in constitutional law in law school) to evaluate on its own merits -- his quickie summation of Marbury is one of the better ones I've read, but since I've read dozens, my eyes somewhat glaze over. What......more

Breyer's "Making Our Democracy Work" is a enjoyable, if at times a bit technical, history of the Supreme Court and how it has decided cases rightly and wrongly. For modern Americans, the Court may be a bulwark against discrimination (the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education) or a break in the dam o......more

Justice Breyer writes an interesting piece on not only judicial philosophy, but also on how our system of laws functions in concert with our system of representation. I can’t help but think I would have gotten more from this book if I were not a law student, so it’s hard to recommend it to people in......more