The Hidden History of the Supreme Cou..., Thom Hartmann
The Hidden History of the Supreme Cou..., Thom Hartmann
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The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America

Author: Thom Hartmann

Narrator: Sean Pratt

Unabridged: 4 hr 16 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ascent Audio

Published: 10/01/2019


Synopsis

"Hartmann delivers a full-throated indictment of the U.S. Supreme Court in this punchy polemic." -Publishers Weekly

Taking his typically in-depth, historically informed view, Thom Hartmann asks, What if the Supreme Court didn't have the power to strike down laws? According to the Constitution, it doesn't. From the founding of the republic until 1803, the Supreme Court was the final court of appeals, as it was always meant to be. So where did the concept of judicial review start? As so much of modern American history, it began with the battle between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, and with Marbury v. Madison. 

Hartmann argues it is not the role of the Supreme Court to decide what the law is but rather the duty of the people themselves. He lays out the history of the Supreme Court of the United States, since Alexander Hamilton's defense to modern-day debates, with key examples of cases where the Supreme Court overstepped its constitutional powers. The ultimate remedy to the Supreme Court's abuse of power is with the people-the ultimate arbiter of the law-using the ballot box. America does not belong to the kings and queens; it belongs to the people.

About Thom Hartmann

Thom Hartmann is the four-time Project Censored Award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of twenty-five books currently in print in over a dozen languages on five continents. Hartmann is also an internationally known speaker on culture and communications, an author, and an innovator in the fields of psychiatry, ecology, and economics.

The cofounder (with his wife, Louise) and former Executive Director of The New England Salem Children's Village (1978) and The Hunter School (1997), he has led national innovations in the areas of residential treatment for abused children and private/public education for learning-disabled children.

He has helped set up hospitals, famine relief programs, schools, and refugee centers in India, Uganda, Australia, Colombia, Russia, and the United States through the German-based Salem International program. Formerly rostered with the State of Vermont as a psychotherapist, founder of The Michigan Healing Arts Center, and licensed as an NLP Trainer by Richard Bandler (who wrote the foreword to one of Thom's books), he was the originator of the revolutionary "Hunter/Farmer Hypothesis" to understand the psychiatric condition known as Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD).

A guest faculty member at Goddard College in Vermont, he also synthesized the "Younger/Older Culture model" for describing the underpinnings-and possible solutions-to the world's ecological and socio-political crises, suggesting that many of our problems are grounded in cultural "stories" which go back thousands of years.

Leonardo DiCaprio was inspired by Thom's book The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight to make the movie "The 11th Hour" (in which Thom appears), and a series of environmental videos narrated by Hartmann and DiCaprio, available at Green World Rising.

Talkers Magazine named Thom Hartmann as the most important progressive talk show host in America for the past decade, and for three of the past five years the #1 most important progressive host, in their "Heavy Hundred" ranking. His radio show is syndicated on for-profit radio stations nationwide by WYD Media, on non-profit and community stations nationwide by Pacifica, across the entire North American continent on SiriusXM Satellite radio, on cable systems nationwide by Cable Radio Network (CRN) and Free Speech TV, on its own YouTube channel, via subscription podcasts, worldwide through the US American Forces Network, and through the Thom Hartmann App in the App Store. The radio show is also simulcast as TV in realtime into nearly 60 million US and Canadian homes by the Free Speech TV Network on Dish Network, DirectTV, and cable TV systems nationwide.

As an entrepreneur, he's founded several successful businesses which still are operating, and lived and worked with his wife, Louise, and their three (now adult) children on several continents.

He was born and grew up in Michigan, and retains strong ties to the Midwest, although he and Louise have lived in New Hampshire, Vermont, Georgia, Germany, Washington DC, and Oregon.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Derek on May 16, 2020

A 'must read' book for anyone who wants to understand how we arrived at a country that is no longer ruled by the people but instead ruled by the courts. Hartmann explains the historical underpinnings for the right wing judicial power grab that has trumped important public policy that we, the people,......more

Goodreads review by Silas on August 20, 2022

I hate the supreme court now.......more

Goodreads review by Claire on August 11, 2023

The book traces the evolution of the Supreme Court. Much of the body of the discussion was about cases that led to changes and effects of some decisions made by SCOTUS. Of particular interest to me was the discussion of quotations of the founding fathers about the power/assumed lack of power of the......more

Goodreads review by Ryan on July 01, 2023

Hartmann details how the Supreme Court became the bludgeon of corporations and billionaires and arrogated to itself power and jurisdiction not granted in the Constitution. Most importantly, he details ways that we can take back democracy from the court.......more

Goodreads review by John on June 06, 2020

Another good read and research by Hartmann. Well written and thought provoking.......more