A people's history of the Supreme Court : the men and women whose cases and decisions have shaped our Constitution / Peter Irons.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 573-577) and index.

Foreword / Howard Zinn -- Introduction : "The genius of the Constitution" -- Section 1 : "To establish a more perfect union" -- ch. 1. Morally sinful by the word of God -- ch. 2. The exigencies of the Union -- ch. 3. Dishonorable to the national character -- ch. 4. The supreme law of the land -- ch. 5. The country must finally decide -- ch. 6. The plot thickens fast -- ch. 7. The nauseous project of amendments -- Section 2 : "It is a constitution we are expounding" -- ch 8. The Court is now sitting -- ch. 9. To say what the law is -- ch. 10. These jarring and discordant judgments -- ch. 11. The good and the wise -- ch. 12. Great, good, and excellent man! -- Section 3 : "Justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery" -- ch. 13. A small, pleasant-looking Negro -- ch. 14. Beings of an inferior order -- ch. 15. Another explosion will soon come -- ch. 16. A higher law than the Constitution -- ch. 17. An evil eye and an unequal hand -- ch. 18. Our Constitution is color-blind -- Section 4 : "Liberty in a social organization" -- ch. 19. The spectre of socialism -- Munn v. Illinois (1877) -- Mugler v. Kansas (1877) -- Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway v. Minnesota (1890) -- United States v. E.C. Knight Co. (1895) -- Pollock v. Farmers' Loan Co. (1895) -- In re Debs (1895).

ch. 20. The work was light and healthful -- Allgeyer v. Louisiana (1897) -- Holden v. Hardy (1898) -- Lochner v. New York (1905) -- Muller v. Oregon (1908) -- Adkins v. Children's Hospital (1923) -- ch. 21. Falsely shouting fire in a theatre -- Schenck v. United States (1919) -- Debs v. United States (1919) -- Abrams v. United States (1919) -- ch. 22. Every idea is an incitement -- Gitlow v. New York (1925) -- Whitney v. California (1927) -- De Jonge v. Oregon (1937) -- Herndon v. Lowry (1937) -- ch. 23. The general welfare of the United States -- Home Building & Loan Assn. v. Blaisdell (1934) -- Nebbia v. New York (1934) -- Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935) -- United States v. Butler (1936) -- ch. 24. To save the Constitution from the Court -- Carter v. Carter Coal Co. (1936) -- Morehead v. Tipaldo (1936) -- West Coast Hotel v. Parrish (1937) -- ch. 25. Hughes thundered out the decision -- NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Co. (1937) -- Section 5 : "Beyond the reach of majorities" -- ch. 26. We live by symbols -- United STates v. Carolene Products Co. (1938) -- Minersville School Board v. Gobitis (1940) -- West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) -- ch. 27. A Jap's a Jap -- Hirabayashi v. United States (1943) -- Korematsu v. United States (1944) -- Ex parte Endo (1944)" -- ch. 28. My little soul is overjoyed -- Gaines v. Canada (1938) -- Sipuel v. Oklahoma Board of Regents (1948) -- Shelley v. Kraemer (1948) -- Sweatt v. Painter (1950) -- Dennis v. United States (1951).

ch. 29. Give me the colored doll -- Brown v. Board of Education (1954) -- ch. 30. War on the Constitution -- Brown v. Board of Education, cont. (1954) -- Cooper v. Aaron (1958) -- ch. 31. A better place because he lived -- Everson v. Board of Education (1947) -- McCollum v. Illinois (148) -- Engel v. Vitale (1962) -- Abington Township v. Schempp (1963) -- Lee v. Weisman (1992) -- Reynolds v. Sims (1964) -- Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United STates (1964) -- Miranda v. Arizona (1966) -- United STates v. O'Brien (1968) -- Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) -- New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) -- Section 6 : "A right of personal privacy" -- ch. 32. You've been taking pure thalidomide -- Skinner v. Oklahoma (1942) -- Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) -- ch. 33. The raw edges of Human existence -- Roe v. Wade (1973) -- ch. 34. Truly a Pandora's box -- Regents v. Bakke (1978) -- Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) -- ch. 35. I fear for the future -- Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989) -- Texas v. Johnson (1989) -- Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co. (1989) -- Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992).

Section 7 : "It is a cultural war" -- ch. 36. One nation under God -- Board of Airport Commissioners v. Jews for Jesus (1987) -- Westside School District v. Mergens (1990) -- Center Moriches School District v. Lamb's Chapel (1993) -- Rosenberger v. University of Virginia (1995) -- Santa Fe School District v. Doe (2000) -- Elk Grove School District v. Newdow (2004) -- McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky (2005) -- ch. 37. The values we share with a wider civilization -- Romer v. Evans 91996) -- Lawrence v. Texas (2003) -- Cruzan v. Missouri (1990) -- Washington v. Glucksberg (1997) -- Vacco v. Quill (1997) -- Stenberg v. Carhart (2000) -- ch. 38. A blank check for the President -- Bush v. Gore (2000) -- Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) -- Gratz v. Bollinger (2003) -- Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2005) -- Padilla v. Rumsfeld (2005) -- Rasul v. Bush (2005) -- Epilogue : "One of us will have a pick" -- United States Constitution -- The Justices of the Supreme Court -- Notes -- Sources for further reading -- Index.

Beginning with the debates over judicial power in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 to controversial rulings on slavery, racial segregation, free speech, school prayer, abortion, and gay rights, constitutional scholar Peter Irons offers a penetrating look at the highest court in the land. Here are revealing sketches of every justice from John Jay to Samuel Alito, as well as portraits of such legal giants as John Marshall, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Earl Warren, and Thurgood Marshall. Astute, provocative, and extremely accessible, A People's History of the Supreme Court illuminates and pays tribute to a system of justice that both reflects and parallels our country's remarkable legal history. The revised edition has been updated to include recent landmark cases and changes on the bench.