The Supreme Court and the Development of Law: Through the Prism of Prisoners’ Rights
 |
| Anteprima |
This
book illuminates the decision-making processes of the US Supreme court
through an examination of several prisoners' rights cases. In 1964, the
Supreme Court declined to hear prisoners’ claims about religious
freedom. In 2014, the Supreme Court heard a case that led to the
justices’ unanimous endorsement of a Muslim prisoner’s religious right
to grow a beard despite objections from prison officials. In the
fifty-year span between those two events, the Supreme Court developed
the law concerning rights for imprisoned offenders. As demonstrated in
this book, the factors that shape Supreme Court decision making are
well-illustrated by prisoners’ rights cases. This area of law
illuminates competing approaches to constitutional interpretation,
behind-the-scenes interactions among the justices, and the manipulation
of legal precedents. External actors also affect the Supreme Court and
its decisions when the president appoints new justices and Congress
targets the judiciary with legislative enactments. Because of the
controversial nature of prisoners’ rights issues, these cases serve to
illuminate the full array of influences over Supreme Court decision
making.
