Supreme Inequality: The Supreme Court’s Fifty-Year Battle for a More Unjust America, by Adam Cohen (2020)
If anyone thought the United States Supreme Court was a neutral branch of government, this well-researched and through book will quickly dispel anyone of that notion. The author argues that the Warren Court of the 1950s and ‘60s was an anomaly. From the moment Chief Justice Earl Warren retired in 1969, the Court has been eroding the rights of individual Americans in favor of corporations.
The author cites case after case after case in which the High Court of the land ruled against individual Americans in favor of wealthy businesses and institutions. The author analyzes how the Court eviscerated laws designed to protect the poor, how laws designed to end racial discrimination have been upended, how challenges to campaign spending have been upheld, and how the criminal system has been eroded. Cohen argues, with the backing of Court decisions, that Supreme Court has become more and more political. Occasionally, the Court decisions have been so egregious, that Congress has stepped in to make corrections, as in the Lilly Ledbetter Act, for instance. More often than not, however, the Court decision stands (Citizens United, which held that corporations are “persons” and that campaign contributions are a form of Free Speech under the First Amendment.)
The book ends with the conclusion that the Supreme Court’s decisions are more than just legal statements – they are the blueprints for building American life. Recent decisions are widening the gap between the “haves” and “have nots.” The gap will continue to widen until, and unless, those who have recognize this and take action to be more compassionate towards their fellow citizens.
The book was well written, and the non-lawyer will easily understand the synopsis of the decisions sited. The book will, however, make the reader angry. It doesn’t paint a pretty picture of the state of the Country.
Read: January 12, 2022
4 Stars
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