The Rehnquist Court and Criminal Justice [Paperback]

Smith and DeJong (both, criminal justice, Michigan State Univ.) and McCall (sociology, San Diego State Univ.) have assembled a collection of essays that examine the criminal justice votes and jurisprudence of each justice who served on the US Supreme Court during the period that William H. Rehnquist served as chief justice (except Justice Lewis Powell, who served only one term after Rehnquist's promotion to chief justice). However, the chapters do more than simply examine each justice's votes in criminal cases. Drawing almost exclusively from secondary sources, the contributors provide brief biographies and descriptions of the justices' experiences and judicial records (where applicable) before Rehnquist was elevated to chief justice. Smith and McCall provide an introduction that nicely summarizes general trends in the criminal justice docket of the Supreme Court during the period under examination. McCall's chapter on Rehnquist describes him as successful and well liked by the other justices and argues that he was generally successful in moving the court's criminal justice jurisprudence in the conservative direction without being able to overturn some of the key Warren Court precedents that he opposed. Summing Up: Recommended.The Rehnquist Court and Criminal Justice is the definitive examination of a how William Rehnquist and his Court sought to undo the Warren Court criminal due process revolution. Uniquely focusing on the Rehnquist Court justices, the editors have woven together essays that reveal the tensions, personalities, and forces that remade criminal law from the time of the Burger Court to the War on Terrorism. Richard Nixon would have been so proud of what his Justice accomplished!In this edited volume, Smith, DeJong, McCall, and their contributors address the profound revisions the Rehnquist Court wrought upon criminal rights and the Constitution. But, its emphasis on the role and influence of each justice gives this work the richness of a judicial biogl“a