American judicial politics

KEY BENEFIT: This book on the American judicial system encourages readers to seriously consider the way we think about law, politics, and society. Providing the most extensive study of jurisprudence available, it offers important perspectives for understanding how and why law works the way it does in the American political context; succinctly presents the main currents of contemporary legal thought for an in-depth study of American law and courts; endeavors to cover each and every significant subject, issue, and research area common to the subfield of law and courts in contemporary American political science; and contains exceptionally through documentation throughout. It describes and analyzes key elements of the judicial process, including the selection of judges at both the state and federal levels; the history and structure of the American judicial system; the trial process in both civil and criminal courts, the implementation of judicial decisions; and the role of the judiciary in American politics and society. It also adds material on feminist jurisprudence, racial theory, and the "new constitutive" view of law, and includes the latest findings and figures on caseflow in the U.S. Supreme Court, law school enrollments, crime statistics, and more. For political scientists, lawyers, and those interested in the American government and constitutional law.