Landmark Supreme Court Cases: The Most Influential Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States (Facts on File Library of American History) [Hardcover]

Gary R. Hartman (Author), Roy M. Mersky (Author), Cindy L. Tate (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–An excellent source for beginning researchers. The 350 cases considered are grouped under broad subjects such as abortion, privacy, freedom of religion, civil rights, due process, and freedom of speech and assembly. Each unbiased entry runs about two pages in length and is organized by sections discussing the key issues of the case and its history and offering a summary of the arguments presented, an overview of the decision, the response to it, and a list of related cases. The discussion of the case's significance and its implications will be useful for students. The appendixes include an alphabetical list of entries, a glossary, and a list of sources for each case. Donald Lively's Landmark Supreme Court Cases (Greenwood, 1999) examines 74 cases also under broad subject headings but does not organize the discussions under subheadings. Hartman's title includes more cases and is easier to use.–Madeleine G. Wright, New Hampton School, NH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Although other works, such as The Oxford Guide to U.S. Supreme Court Decisions (Oxford, 1999), Encyclopedia of the U.S. Supreme Court (Salem, 2000), and Supreme Court Compendium: Data, Decisions, and Developments (CQ Press, 2003), provide information on landmark cases, this one succinctly describes the backgrounds of more than 350 "most important" cases and offers insight into their significance and effects on American life. The authors give no criteria for selecting these particular cases, but all seem significant in their impact.

The cases are arranged alphabetically under 15 subject categories such as "Abortion," "Freedom of Religion," "Jurisdiction," and one catch-all category, "Additional Cases." The latter includes cases that addressed the death penalty, eminent domain, blue laws, and trials of captured enemies by military tribunal, to name a few. Each entry features the case title, legal citation, year of decision, key issues, history, summary of the arguments, aftermath, significance, and related cases. Most entries are no more than two pages long. There is a detailed index that enables users to find specific cases or topics. A 13-page glossary includes the expected legal terms and a few technological terms, such as CD-ROM, database, and microfiche. Recommended readings at the end of each entry, a list of sources by case, and a brief bibliography direct the reader to other works.

This source should be useful to anyone wanting to study the development and impact of the U.S. Supreme Court and to anyone who wants to understand the significance of those few cases (approximately 150 of the 7,000 filed each year) that make it through the selection process and are heard there. Readers can grasp the Court's evolving power by using the chronologically arranged table (although it oddly skips from 1989 to 2003 even though this work includes some cases from the intervening years). They can also see attitudinal changes in the Court by studying the various cases under each subject heading. Recommended for academic, public, and high-school libraries. Sally Jane
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 594 pages
• Publisher: Facts on File (March 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816024529
• ISBN-13: 978-0816024520
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #431,967 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Overview of Supreme Court Cases, May 15, 2008

By 

Kevin Howard (Oswego, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Landmark Supreme Court Cases: The Most Influential Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States (Paperback)

This is a great reference of the major Supreme Court Cases. If you are looking for a specific court case this would be a great volume to have. It lists the cases and then gives the holdings on each case. It also lists after each case other relevent cases that corrospond to the case.

This is not a book you would read through, it is just a reference for each Supreme Court case.