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Supreme Court Review

NCJ Number
163692
Editor(s)
D J Hutchinson, D A Strauss, G R Stone
Date Published
1996
Length
462 pages
Annotation
These nine papers examine recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding affirmative action, race-based boundaries for congressional districts, the hearsay rule, federalism, and other issues.
Abstract
An analysis of decisions regarding affirmative action concludes that although the decisions appear to present several anomalies, they make sense if understood as a response to a widespread problem in democratic politics rather than to the kinds of concerns that led to prohibitions of discrimination against minorities. The analysis of one of the principles set forth in the decision in Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority concludes that continued adherence to this principle of construing a statute so as to avoid having to make a constitutional decision is likely to be counterproductive. An analysis of the decision in Gustafson v. Alloyd concludes that this decision regarding securities law had major flaws and may indicate more and greater changes to come. The discussion of three 1993 decisions are analyzed to support the conclusion that the Court's nondiscrimination principle in interpreting the Commerce Clause of the Constitution does not serve any of the commonly stated objectives of economic efficiency, representation reinforcement, and national unity. Footnotes