Making Constitutional Law Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court, 1961-1991 [Hardcover]

Following onMaking Civil Rights Law, which covered Thurgood Marshall's career from 1936-1961, this book focuses on Marshall's career on the Supreme Court from 1961-1991, where he was the first African-American Justice. Based on thorough research in the Supreme Court papers of Justice Marshall and others, this book describes Marshall's approach to constitutional law in areas ranging from civil rights and the death penalty to abortion and poverty. It locates the Supreme Court from 1967 to 1991 in a broader socio-political context, showing how the nation's drift toward conservatism affected the Court's debates and decisions.

Tushnet has produced an account of what went on within the Supreme Court during Marshall's tenure that is not only well researched but also well written. Readers without a legal background will appreciate his very clear explanations of arcane doctrines...Tushnet offers readers extremely informative accounts of the court's internal arguments over civil rights and the death penalty. --America Historical Review

By sticking to constitutional law issues...Tushnet is able to tie the pieces together into a fascinating and worthwhile journey through the life of the nation's first African American Supreme Court justice. Highly recommended for both general and academic readers at any level interested in law, political science, history, ethnic studies, or cultural studies. --Choice

Weaving a narrative mainly from the public records of Marshall and other justices, interviews with colleagues and his own personal recollections as a clerk for Justice Marshall, Tushnet has delivered another impressive account of Justice Marshall's influence on the making ofcivil rights and constitutional law. It is a book deserving of a close reading by scholars of Supreme Court jurisprudence. --Ihe Law and Politics Book Review

Tushent boldly and honestly portrays Marshall's constitutional jurisprudence...[a] filS*