For 30 years, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Linda Greenhouse chronicled the activities of the U.S. Supreme Court and its justices as a correspondent for the New York Times. In this Very Short Introduction, she draws on her deep knowledge of the court's history and of its written and unwritten rules to show readers how the Supreme Court really works. Greenhouse offers a fascinating institutional biography of a place and its people - men and women - who exercise great power but whose names and faces are unrecognized by many Americans and whose work often appears cloaked in mystery. How do cases get to the Supreme Court? How do the justices go about deciding them? What special role does the chief justice play? What do the law clerks do? How does the court relate to the other branches of government? Greenhouse answers these questions by depicting the justices as they confront deep constitutional issues or wrestle with the meaning of confusing federal statutes. Throughout, the author examines many individual Supreme Court cases to illustrate points under discussion, ranging from Marbury v. Madison, the seminal case which established judicial review, to the recent District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), which struck down the District of Columbia's gun-control statute and which was, surprisingly, the first time in its history that the Court issued an authoritative interpretation of the Second Amendment. To add perspective, Greenhouse also compares the Court to foreign courts, revealing interesting differences. For instance, no other country in the world has chosen to bestow life tenure on its judges. A superb overview packed with telling details, this volume offers a matchless introduction to one of the pillars of American government.

【“牛津通识读本”中的经典之作】 【普利策奖得主、美国最高法院事务30年报道者琳达•格林豪斯著】 【畅销译著《九人》《批评官员的尺度》译者、法政学者何帆法官译】 普利策奖得主、专事美国最高法院事务报道达30年之久的琳达•格林豪斯，在《美国最高法院通识读本》中向读者介绍了 该院事实上是如何运作的：在美国，官司是如何打到最高法院的？最高法院大法官们如何判决？首席大法官的地位有何特别？法官助理如何发挥作用？通过描述大法官们面对深刻的宪法 问题和难解的法律涵义时的处理方式，作者对这些问题给出了解答。贯穿《美国最高法院通识读本》全书始终，作者检视了许多具体个案来阐明所讨论的要点，并且将美国最高法院与他国法院进行了有益的对比。