The Burger Court: Counter-Revolution or Confirmation?

Warren E. Burger served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1969 to 1987, an often tumultuous period in which the Court wrestled with several compelling constitutional issues. United States v. Nixon set the stage for the resignation of a President; Roe v. Wade created a nationwide debate that is as divisive today as ever before; Lemon v. Kurtzman attempted to enunciate a clear standard for vexing church-state issues; and the "Pentagon Papers" case was a landmark freedom-of-the-press decision.

An impressive collection of writings by legal scholars and practitioners, including many by people who worked directly or indirectly with the Court itself, The Burger Court is the first truly systematic review of the Court's activity during Warren Burger's tenure. Such distinguished contributors as Derrick Bell, Robert Drinan, Anthony Lewis, and Mark Tushnet review individual cases and jurisprudential trends in order to render comprehensive judgments of the Court's accomplishments and shortcomings. The essays in this volume were gathered by the late Bernard Schwartz, one of America's most revered scholars of constitutional law and the editor of this book's well-received predecessor, The Warren Court: A Retrospective (OUP, 1996).

As the finest overview to date of this Court's legacy and significance, The Burger Court will greatly interest anyone with a taste for constitutional issues or recent American history.