Constitution, Court, and Authority

Extract

In this book the author's approach to the Supreme Court differs from that of most political scientists. The book is not about what the Court does, but rather about what the Court is and, ultimately, where it is in the American polity's system of authority. Brigham observes that the Supreme Court occupies a preeminent position for other governmental institutions, the legal profession, academics, journalists, and—no less important—the public. This is so because the Court's pronouncements on the Constitution have, in practical terms, become the Constitution. Acknowledging the voice of former Attorney General Edwin Meese in dissent, Brigham argues that “we have come to speak of the Constitution as ‘what the justices say it is’ and we look for ‘it’ in their opinions. Their words are no longer authoritative gloss on the thing itself; they have become the thing itself” (p. 31).