A01=H. Jefferson Powell
american government
Author_H. Jefferson Powell
candor
Category=LNAA
constitutional decision making
controversial decisions
controversy
credibility
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
ethics
governance
governing
humility
ideological
ideology
individual consciousness
intellectual honesty
judges
judicial
justice systems
law
lawyers
legal system
legality
morality
morals
political science
politics
supreme court
united states of america
usa
Product details
- ISBN 9780226677255
- Weight: 340g
- Dimensions: 15 x 22mm
- Publication Date: 01 Jun 2008
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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While many recent observers have accused American judges - especially Supreme Court justices - of being too driven by politics and ideology, others have argued that judges are justified in using their positions to advance personal views. Advocating a different approach - one that eschews ideology but still values personal perspective - H. Jefferson Powell makes a compelling case for the centrality of individual conscience in constitutional decision making.Powell argues that almost every controversial decision has more than one constitutionally defensible resolution. In such cases, he goes on to contend, the language and ideals of the Constitution require judges to decide in good faith, exercising what Powell calls the constitutional virtues: candor, intellectual honesty, humility about the limits of constitutional adjudication, and willingness to admit that they do not have all the answers. "Constitutional Conscience" concludes that the need for these qualities in judges - as well as lawyers and citizens - is implicit in our constitutional practices, and that without them judicial review would forfeit both its own integrity and the credibility of the courts themselves.
H. Jefferson Powell is a professor at Duke Law School. His books include A Community Built on Words: The Constitution in History and Politics, also published by the University of Chicago Press.
