Customer Reviews

The Myth of the Imperial Judiciary: Why the Right is Wrong about the Courts

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Is the federal judiciary really out of control?

By way of answer to that question, Mark Kozlowski delivers 220 pages (plus endnotes) of fresh air and good sense -- all pointing to the conclusion that, nope, the federal judiciary is doing pretty much what it's always done and working pretty much the way the framers of the Constitution intended it to work.

It's a nice analysis. In his opening chapter, he sets out an eminently fair statement of what he calls the 'Imperial Judiciary thesis' (propounded most recently in Mark Levin's ill-reasoned screed _Men In Black_ -- endorsed, notably, by Ed Meese). In the rest of the book, he proceeds to make complete mincemeat of it. 'Originalism' (both the 200-proof Bork/Meese variety and the 100-proof version offered by Keith Whittington) get a pretty complete takedown -- along with, really, the entire Levin/Bork/Meese view of the Constitutional role of the judiciary.

I won't try to summarize Kozlowski's arguments here; I'll just recommend them highly to anyone looking for a sane voice in reply to the current round of anti-judiciary fanatics. This is an excellent and well-reasoned book that, unfortunately, remains timely two years after its publication. I guess there are still some people who need to read it.

A refreshing look at the judiciary. Well worth the read.