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The History of the Supreme Court  By  cover art

The History of the Supreme Court

By: Peter Irons, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Peter Irons
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Publisher's summary

For more than two centuries, the Supreme Court has exerted extraordinary influence over the way we live our daily lives. The Court has defined the boundaries of our speech and actions since its first meeting in 1790, adding to our history books names such as John Marshall, Louis Brandeis, Hugo Black, Earl Warren, Thurgood Marshall, Warren Burger, William Rehnquist, and many others.

Have you ever wondered what goes into shaping the Court's decisions - or the beliefs of its justices? Or how the nine justices blend divergent and often strongly conflicting philosophies to reach decisions that reflect consensus - or sometimes fail to? How even a single change in the Court's personnel can dramatically alter not only the Court's ideological balance but its cooperative chemistry, as well? Or what it actually sounded like in the Court as some of the most important cases in our history were argued? This series of 36 clear and insightful lectures - delivered by an award-winning teacher and widely respected authority on the Supreme Court - answers these questions and many more as it traces the development of the Court from a body having little power or prestige to its current status as, "the most powerful and prestigious judicial institution in the world."

The lectures are rich in biographical snapshots of not only the justices but also the advocates who have stood before them and the dozens of ordinary men and women whose cases have reached the Court. Several historical recordings are also highlighted, giving you a front-row seat as you hear lawyers actually arguing before the Court, as well as the justices' replies.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2003 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2003 The Great Courses

What listeners say about The History of the Supreme Court

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Professor's Bias Does Not Detract

Though I've enjoyed quite a few TGC courses, this is the first time I have listened through a lecture series packaged as a "book" on Audible. The unity of the course was probably enhanced by the platform. which formatted the individual lectures as chapters. The only downside was having no access to the course notes. (The Teaching Company does not normally provide them a la carte.) This course surveys the Supreme Court as a living institution from its beginnings until the beginning of the 21st century. (The course is copyrighted 2003.) Dr. Peter Irons is an unquestionably qualified guide to the subject, having both written and taught on the Supreme Court from the perspective of a lawyer who belongs to its bar.

Speaking of perspective, Irons admits his filter at the beginning of the course and several times where his narrative pertains to issues that reveal his bias. His career in civil liberties law has clearly shaped his thinking. And although I would differ with Dr. Irons politically and ideologically on several points, I did not feel his stance took away from the quality or content of the course in the slightest. The unique point of view of a scholar (who knows how to be dispassionate and objective) who also has spent his career in the field of practice, passionately arguing for his convictions, opens an aware listener's mind to a deeper, richer experience of the subject. I disagree with reviews that downgrade the course because of Irons's bias.

The content of the course focuses on key members of the court and key cases which support the theme: individual liberty in tension with the power of the state. For me, it was an entry into a facet of civil government and American history long obscured by educational emphasis on the legislative and executive branches. As a member of a church that maintains "courts," I found the overlapping applications fertile and fascinating.

One more item worth mentioning: an advantage of this audio presentation is the several examples of actual Supreme Court proceedings--short samples of the voices of individual justices or oral arguments. I found that fascinating. One could only wish more recent pieces were added in an updated version.

I highly recommend this course to anyone interested in law, history, civil rights or political studies.

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60 people found this helpful

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I've given 3 friends a copy of this. So far.

My standards for books and courses on the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) might be a tad high. I am an Army veteran, and I have been a lawyer for a couple of decades. Constitutional Law is a mandatory 1L year long course. I am admitted to the SCOTUS bar, although I've never had the occasion and probably never will. Professor Peter Irons' The Great Courses lecture series "History of the Supreme Court" (2003) exceeded my expectations.

A couple of things to know: there's a 193 page PDF that comes with the Audible that has a detailed Table of Contents and an outline for every lecture. The actual text of the SCOTUS decisions, which are probably more than 10,000 pages long, are available at supremecourt dot gov. The Audible edition had both parts I and II of The Great Courses lectures. This was published in 2003, before Chief Justice John Roberts and culture changing decisions such as Obergefell v Hodges (2015) 576 US -- which established the right for same sex couples to wed.

Irons' lectures are important because they place SCOTUS decisions in historical and personal context; and because sometimes, they reveal the moral failings of the appointed-for-life justices. For example, Pleasy v Ferguson (1896) 163 US 537 upheld the doctrine of "separate but equal" for minorities and is one of the most notoriously unfair and (now) unconstitutional decisions. Irons discusses how that decision happened, and why it was nearly unanimous. Irons traces the 60 years work it took by organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to have Plessy overruled in Brown v Board of Education (1954) 347 US 483. How Plessy came to be always mystified me, and now I know. It's an ugly story of unbridled prejudice and racial hatred, but understanding how it happened is important.

Irons addresses other important decisions, of course, like Roe v Wade (1973) 410 US 113, upholding a woman's right to voluntarily terminate a pregnancy; and lesser known opinions that have shaped American laws and culture. In some of the lectures on later decisions actually include audio of the SCOTUS arguments. Complete oral arguments are also available at supremecourt dot gov - although listening to attorneys getting skewered by cranky Associate Justices is cringeworthy.

Colin Kaepernick and a handful of "like and share if you agree" memes about requiring the Pledge of Allegiance in Florida public schools are why I've been sending copies of this course to friends. Kaepernick, currently a San Francisco 49ers quarterback, has been kneeling during the National Anthem as a protest against law enforcement treatment of Blacks. Kaepernick doesn't have to stand and students don't have to pledge, as Irons explains in Lecture Seventeen, "Beyond the Reach of The Majorities", discussing West Virginia v Barnette (1943) 319 US 624. Irons actually interviewed the Jehovah's Witnesses who refused to pledge to an object (the flag) and how it resulted in Barnette, affected their lives. Florida recently passed a law requiring that school districts let their students know they don't have to stand during the pledge - more than 70 years after the decision - and folks didn't like it. Irons sure does a better job explaining the law than I can in 140 characters.

Irons, fortunately, leaves out the mundane - the Supreme Court hears a lot of tax court which are important to only a few.

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48 people found this helpful

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He misses several landmark rulings, but what he chooses to include is explained brilliantly.

This isn’t exactly a history of the court; it’s a history of the bill of rights and due process claims with regards to civil liberties, in other words, basically all the cases involve either the ACLU or NAACP. Obviously the docket of cases needed to be narrow, so I understand focusing on civil liberties, and he makes no bones about his background in the ACLU shaping his choice of cases. However, despite his masterful explanations of those cases, it’s pretty much inexcusable to not even mention the Youngstown steel seizure case, the Curtis-Wright export case, habeus corpus petitions during the civil war, Administrative law holdings regarding the APA, constitutional war power allocation cases, etc...

I loved the course and urge whoever reads this to download it. Nothing about his voice or delivery bothered me, which is rare. His “performance” isn’t so much a performance, but he arranges the content of the cases so that you are engaged just by his explanations.
He is obviously a bit of a political liberal, but don’t be fooled. He discloses his biases outright and doesn’t let it affect his analysis unfairly. I’m on the other end of the political spectrum and sincerely appreciated his perspective.
All in all, I loved it and listened to it twice. But if you want more than just a handful of amendments from the bill of rights and due process/equal protection claims under the 14th amendment, this is NOT for you. I am really disappointed that he omits some of the most indisputably crucial rulings in the nation’s history, though his dedication to specific themes allowed for a more thoroughgoing and thoughtful analysis of the history of civil liberties in the Supreme Court.

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Engrossing

This is a lecture series from the Great Courses that Audible provides. I normally obtain the video lectures via the Teaching Company but some courses work very well as an audio lecture such as this one. The professor for this course on the History of the Supreme Court is Peter Irons. He was a law professor at the University of California San Diego; he also taught political science.

The course format is 36 lectures of 30 minutes each. Professor Irons covers the formation of the Court up to the date of the course in 2001. Professor Irons covers key decisions of the Court and constitutional law. The author also discusses some of the key decisions and Chief Justices over the years. Professor Irons provides more information on John Marshall the 2nd Chief Justice, Chief Justice Roger Taney and Civil War Amendments. He also discusses the effects of Oliver Wendell-Holmes and Louis Brandeis on the Court. He covers Chief Justice William Howard Taft, the former President of the United States, who was appointed to the Court after he finished the office of the President. He also covers the New Deal, the cold war, Civil Rights and the appointment of Thurgood Marshall the first black on the Court. Sandra Day O’Connor the first women appointed to the Court.

The last Chief Justice appointed by a Democrat President was Frederick Moore Vinson (1890-1953) appointed by President Harry Truman in 1946. At that time the Court was divided by two opposing justices, Hugo Black and Felix Frankfurter. Vinson died suddenly of a heart attack in 1953. From 1953 to date, the Court has had a Chief Justice appointed by a Republican President. Irons goes on to review the all Republican appointed Chief Justices: Earl Warren, Warren Burger, and William Rehnquist. The course ends before the appointment of Roberts by President Bush.

The Professor did an excellent job presenting the course. The course was meticulously researched and presented. This is presented as a university course. I learned a great deal about the Court for reading this course. Over the last few years I have been reading biographies of the Supreme Court Justices and I was amazed at how much I have learned. The course provides a concise review of the Court for easy learning.

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Ends too soon

I was disappointed that it ends at about the year 2000. But that's my only complaint. Very interesting and engaging. Easy to listen to, easy to understand. Enjoyable.

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Great Lecture Series !

I stumbled upon this collection of lectures while reading a book about Roosevelt's court packing plan. In my opinion this is a very good series of lectures for use by a layman that is looking to increase his/her knowledge of Supreme Court History. While watching confirmation hearings for Court Justices in the past, I found my lack of knowledge pertaining to major decisions rendered by the Court in the last 100 years bothersome. These lectures helped me address that weakness. The material is presented in a manner that allows an individual a laymen to gain a general understanding of the workings of the Court, and the basis for many of the major decisions in recent history.

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Every US citizen should listen to this book.

The Supreme Court distills the morals and values of the American culture into a filter that screens out laws, for better or worse, deemed ill-suited for the American public. Every American would do well to understand the historic strengths and weaknesses of this institution. This book is a great tool in setting a foundation for that understanding.

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Entry level education to debates on American law

My understanding of the history of American law and the civil rights struggle was dramatically informed by an understanding of the men and women that has sat on the cost and the context of the time in which they lived. I also found a greater justification for my opinions differing with court justices that I felt had departed from the objectives exposed by the founders in the Federalist Papers. An excellent read.

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6 people found this helpful

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Opinionated professor

Would you try another book from The Great Courses and/or Professor Peter Irons?

No this professor determines what is important historically based upon what he personally wants the court appearance to be to readers rather than just facts. He is way too opinionated to give a real history

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Most interesting was the first years of the courts history, least interesting is his opinion of the justices importance historically based purely in his politics.

What didn’t you like about Professor Peter Irons’s performance?

Spent too much time on least important history.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

It started well

Any additional comments?

This guy should not be teaching law he is way too biased

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Thought provoking & intriguing!

This lecture series is a must-have for anybody interested in the history of our Supreme Court. Whether you have an interest in the law, the judiciary, or even just history in general, this series is for you. I just finished listening to it and am about to start it again.

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4 people found this helpful