Implementing the Constitution

Richard H. Fallon, Jr.

Published by Harvard University Press 2001

Implementing the Constitution

Richard H. Fallon, Jr.

https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674419278

Overview
Contents

About this book

This book argues that the Supreme Court performs two functions. The first is to identify the Constitution's idealized "meaning." The second is to develop tests and doctrines to realize that meaning in practice. Bridging the gap between the two--implementing the Constitution--requires moral vision, but also practical wisdom and common sense, ingenuity, and occasionally a willingness to make compromises.

In emphasizing the Court's responsibility to make practical judgments, Implementing the Constitution takes issue with the two positions that have dominated recent debates about the Court's proper role. Constitutional "originalists" maintain that the Court's essential function is to identify the "original understanding" of constitutional language and then apply it deductively to current problems. This position is both unwise and unworkable, the book argues. It also critiques well-known accounts according to which the Court is concerned almost exclusively with matters of moral and constitutional principle.

Implementing the Constitution bridges the worlds of constitutional theory, political theory, and constitutional practice. It illuminates the Supreme Court's decision of actual cases and its development of well-known doctrines. It is a doctrinal study that yields jurisprudential insights and a contribution to constitutional theory that is closely tied to actual judicial practice.

Author / Editor information

Fallon Richard H. :

Richard H. Fallon, Jr., is Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Introduction: The Supreme Court’s Disputed Role Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
CHAPTER 1. Originalism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
CHAPTER 2. The Supreme Court as the Forum of Principle Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	26
CHAPTER 3. Constitutional Implementation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	37
CHAPTER 4. Extraordinary Adjudication Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
CHAPTER 5. Doctrinal Tests and the Constitution Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	76
CHAPTER 6. Ordinary Adjudication Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	102
CHAPTER 7. Legitimacy and the Unwritten Constitution Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
CHAPTER 8. Against Populism and Methodological Pragmatism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	127
Conclusion: Beyond History and Philosophy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	134
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	139
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Edition: Reprint 2014
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Front matter: 10
- Main content: 186
Keywords: LAW / General; Constitutional law -- United States.; United States. Supreme Court.

eBook

Published: October 1, 2013
ISBN: 9780674419278

Hardcover

Published: February 5, 2001
ISBN: 9780674419261