Bench Press: The Collision of Courts, Politics, and the Media (Law, Politics, and the Media) (Hardcover)

by Keith Bybee (Editor)
Key Phrases: bench press, state judicial selection, state supreme court elections, Supreme Court, General Assembly, First Amendment (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Articulate, erudite, focused, thoughtful and thought-provoking, each of the nine essays is expertly written and together form a fascinating body of keen observation and scholarly commentary that make Bench Press an important, timely, and strongly recommended addition."—Midwest Book Review

"This erudite and often provocative book addresses one of the most important challenges to American constitutionalism—the media representations of law and saturation of civic understanding. If we do not get this under control, our long-lived democratic republic will suffer. The authors outline the nature of the threats and a range of adjustments, offering a rich collection of voices from those who are struggling to regain integrity and independence for competing professions: the media and the judiciary."—Susan S. Silbey,Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"Bench Press offers a fascinating variety of perspectives on the politics of the judiciary. The essays, by first-rate judges, journalists, and scholars, take on important topics—judicial elections and appointments, judicial recusals, media coverage of courts—and in many cases break ground, moving far beyond the sound bite coverage these subjects often receive. There's no other book remotely like this one."—Tom Burke, Wellesley College

Product Description

Federal court confirmations in the United States have become openly political affairs, with partisans lining up to support their preferred candidates. Matters in the states are not much different, with once sleepy judicial elections changing into ever more contentious political slugfests, replete with single-issue interest groups and negative campaign advertising. Once on the bench, judges at every level find themselves dogged by charges of politically motivated decision-making.

In this first-of-its-kind collection, prominent figures from the academy, the bench, and the press reflect on the state of the American judiciary. Using the results of a specially commissioned public opinion poll as a starting point, the contributors examine the complex mix of legal principle, political maneuvering, and press coverage that swirl around judicial selection and judicial decision making today. Essays examine the rise of explicitly political state judicial elections, the merits of judicial appointments, the rhetoric of federal judicial confirmation hearings, the quality of legal reporting, the portrayal of courts on the Internet, the inevitable tensions between judges and journalists, and the importance of regulating judicial appearances.

Contributors Include: Keith J. Bybee, Charles Gardner Geyh, G. Alan Tarr, Harold See, James E. Graves, Jr., John M. Walker, Jr., Joanne F. Alper, Mark Obbie, Dahlia Lithwick, Tom Goldstein, and Anthony Lewis

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Stanford Law and Politics (September 7, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804756775
• ISBN-13: 978-0804756778
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,232,407 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Expertly compiled and deftly edited, February 4, 2008

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Expertly compiled and deftly edited by Keith J. Bybee (Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Michael O. Sawyer Chair of Constitutional Law and Politics at Syracuse university's Maxwell School of citizenship and Public Affairs), "Bench Press: The Collision Of Courts, Politics, And The Media" is a collection of nine informed and informative essays ranging from Charles Gardner Geyh's 'Preserving Public Confidence in the Courts in an Age of Individual Rights and Public Skepticism'; to Joanne F. Alper's 'Selecting the Judiciary: Who Should Be the Judge?'; to Dahlia's Litwick's 'The Internet and the Judiciary: We Are All Experts Now'. Articulate, erudite, focused, thoughtful and thought-provoking, each of the nine essays is expertly written and together form a fascinating body of keen observation and scholarly commentary that make "Bench Press" an important, timely, and strongly recommended addition to academic and community library Judicial Studies and Journalism Studies reference collections, as well as the supplemental reading lists for law school and journalism school students..