Indeed, this understanding of the Marshall court comes full circle: The Court is the most cutting edge front of American legal society, casting decisions that are years ahead of what the general populace often wants, according to Armstrong and Woodward, but the Court is also a conservative vestige of administrations past because of lifetime tenure.

That is why the most influential Courts are those in which an appointed justice does not conform to the expectations of his presidential appointer, but rather strikes out on his or her own with a body of decisions that counter the president's and former administration's ideas.

Opinion

The viewpoint of Armstrong and Woodward as presented in "The Brethren" is a much more forgiving look at the Court's influence than the viewpoint presented in our text. However, "The Brethren" looks at the Court with its own jaded eyes as well. The book understands that justices are...
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