Books by Mark V. Tushnet

A Court Divided: The Rehnquist Court And The Future Of Constitutional Law

by Mark V. Tushnet

A penetrating exploration of the Supreme Court and its dynamics on the eve of Justice Rehnquist's retirement cites the division between its liberals and conservatives, documenting how the Court has promoted the economic agenda of today's conservatives while regularly defeating conservative social issues. 13,000 first printing.

Slave Law in the American South: State v. Mann in History and Literature (Landmark Law Cases & American Society)

by Mark V. Tushnet

Slavery in the American South could not have existed without the authority of law defining slaves as the property of their masters. But the fact that slaves were also human beings placed limits on this harsh reality. When the rigor of the law and the complex bonds of sentiment linking master and slave came into conflict, masters looked to the courts.

In one such case, State v. Mann, North Carolina Supreme Court justice Thomas Ruffin ruled that masters could not be prosecuted for assaulting their slaves. In articulating the legal basis for his decision, Justice Ruffin also revealed his own view of the "logic of slavery," in which he sanctioned the owner's rights even as he expressed his own horror at the mistreatment of the slave.

Legal historian Mark Tushnet, one of the foremost living authorities on antebellum slave law, now shows how studying such a simple case can illuminate an entire society. For those who detested slavery, the case represented all that was intolerable about that institution; for those who defended it, it raised vexing and persistent issues that could not be wished away.

As further testament to the importance of State v. Mann, Harriet Beecher Stowe even made it central to her second antislavery novel, Dred. Tushnet discusses the opinion's place in the novel—in which she quoted liberally from Ruffin's decision—and evaluates other historians' interpretations of both the opinion and Stowe's provocative novel.

Tushnet provides a finely detailed analysis of Ruffin's opinion, portraying the judge as a man compelled by law to uphold the slave-owner's right while moved as a Christian by the slave's maltreatment and ever hopeful that communal morality and a deep-seated sense of honor would moderate the excesses of slave owners. As Tushnet shows, however, slave law was a means for maintaining the ideological hegemony of the Southern master class.

Slave Law in the American South paints a broad picture of a landmark case, tying together legal, historical, social, political, and even literary strands to show how the law itself was implicated in the persistence of slavery. It sheds new light on slavery and Southern history, as it probes the conscience of a troubled jurist incapable of fully transcending his times.

the_naacps_legal_strategy_against_segregated_education,_1925-1950

by Mark V. Tushnet

The NAACP's fight against segregated education--the first public interest litigation campaign--culminated in the 1954 Brown decision. While touching on the general social, political, and economic climate in which the NAACP acted, Mark V. Tushnet emphasizes the internal workings of the organization as revealed in its own documents. He argues that the dedication and the political and legal skills of staff members such as Walter White, Charles Hamilton Houston, and Thurgood Marshall were responsible for the ultimate success of public interest law. This edition contains a new epilogue by the author that addresses general questions of litigation strategy, the persistent question of whether the Brown decision mattered, and the legacy of Brown through the Burger and Rehnquist courts.

Thurgood Marshall: His Speeches, Writings, Arguments, Opinions, and Reminiscences (The Library of Black America series)

by Mark V. Tushnet

Much has been written about Thurgood Marshall, but this is the first book to collect his own words. Here are briefs he filed as a lawyer, oral arguments for the landmark school desegregation cases, investigative reports on race riots and racism in the Army, speeches and articles outlining the history of civil rights and criticizing the actions of more conservative jurists, Supreme Court opinions now widely cited in Constitutional law, a long and complete oral autobiography, and much more. Marshall’s impact on American race relations was greater than that of anyone else this century, for it was he who ended legal segregation in the United States. His victories as a lawyer for the NAACP broke the color line in housing, transportation, voting, and schools by overturning the long-established “separate-but-equal” doctrine. But Marshall was attentive to all social inequalities: no Supreme Court justice has ever been more consistent in support of freedom of expression, affirmative action, women’s rights, abortion rights, and the right to consensual sex among adults; no justice has ever fought so hard against economic inequality, police brutality, and capital punishment.

Red, White, and Blue A Critical Analysis of Constitutional Law

by Mark V. Tushnet

The first paperback edition of a classic of American constitutional theory. The book is divided into two parts. In Part I Professor Tushnet appraises the five major competing “grand theories” of constitutional law and interpretation, and, argues that none of them satisfy their own requirements for coherence and judicial constraint. In Part II the author offers a descriptive sociology of constitutional doctrine and raises critical questions as to whether a grand theory is necessary, is it possible to construct a coherent, useful grand theory, and is construction of an uncontroversial grand theory possible?

Professor Tushnet’s new Afterword is organized in parallel fashion to the original text. Part I offers a new survey of the contemporary terrain of constitutional interpretation. Part II provides an extended discussion of the most prominent of contemporary efforts to provide an external analysis of constitutional law, the idea of regime politics. This includes discussion of major court decisions, including Bush v. Gore and Citizens United.

The First Amendment

by Cass R. Sunstein, Geoffrey R. Stone, Mark V. Tushnet, Pamela S. Karlan, Louis Michael Seidman

The casebook you asked for is here! Instructors nationwide have requested a First Amendment off-shoot from the best-selling Constitutional Law casebook by authors Stone, Seidman, Sunstein, and Tushnet. Now, Aspen is proud to meet that request with this current, concise, and focused volume designed expressly for a separate course or seminar dedicated to the First Amendment. Developed fromtheir chapters on Freedom of Expression and the Constitution and Religion, the authors focus 75 percent of the book on freedom of religion. The authors' annual supplement to their Constitutional Law casebook will now include any new developments or revisions to the First Amendment to keep this new text completely up-to-date.

Free Speech Beyond Words: The Surprising Reach of the First Amendment

by Mark V. Tushnet, Joseph Blocher, Alan K. Chen

A look at First Amendment coverage of music, non-representational art, and nonsense

The Supreme Court has unanimously held that Jackson Pollock’s paintings, Arnold Schöenberg’s music, and Lewis Carroll’s poem “Jabberwocky” are “unquestionably shielded” by the First Amendment. Nonrepresentational art, instrumental music, and nonsense: all receive constitutional coverage under an amendment protecting “the freedom of speech,” even though none involves what we typically think of as speech—the use of words to convey meaning.

As a legal matter, the Court’s conclusion is clearly correct, but its premises are murky, and they raise difficult questions about the possibilities and limitations of law and expression. Nonrepresentational art, instrumental music, and nonsense do not employ language in any traditional sense, and sometimes do not even involve the transmission of articulable ideas. How, then, can they be treated as “speech” for constitutional purposes? What does the difficulty of that question suggest for First Amendment law and theory? And can law resolve such inquiries without relying on aesthetics, ethics, and philosophy?

Comprehensive and compelling, this book represents a sustained effort to account, constitutionally, for these modes of “speech.” While it is firmly centered in debates about First Amendment issues, it addresses them in a novel way, using subject matter that is uniquely well suited to the task, and whose constitutional salience has been under-explored. Drawing on existing legal doctrine, aesthetics, and analytical philosophy, three celebrated law scholars show us how and why speech beyond words should be fundamental to our understanding of the First Amendment.

Constitutional Law [Connected Casebook] (Aspen Casebook Series)

by Cass R. Sunstein, Geoffrey R. Stone, Mark V. Tushnet, Pamela S. Karlan, Louis M. Seidman

Buy a new version of this Connected Casebook and receive ACCESS to the online e-book, practice questions from your favorite study aids, and an outline tool on CasebookConnect, the all in one learning solution for law school students. CasebookConnect offers you what you need most to be successful in your law school classes – portability, meaningful feedback, and greater efficiency.
A unique multidisciplinary approach characterizes the leading Constitutional Law. A variety of critical and social perspectives draw on political theory, philosophy, sociology, ethics, history, and economics to give a contemporary look at constitutional law within its traditional doctrinal structure. A mixture of lightly and more heavily edited cases allows close analysis while providing a broad array of important opinions and pivotal cases. Extensive material summarizes the state of the law and its development. Constitutional Law¿ideal for two-semester courses¿follows a logical two-part organization, beginning with the balance of powers among the Supreme Court and local, state, and federal governments and moving to the rights and powers of individuals. The excellent coverage of First Amendment law is clear and concise, and a distinct annual supplement separates First Amendment materials from the rest for ease of research.
The Seventh Edition presents new material on originalism and the right to bear arms; incorporation and the Second Amendment; and Libya and the War Powers Resolution. Full, analytic treatment of the Supreme Court's decisions in the Affordable Care Act is presented. Coverage of the preemption doctrine is expanded. A new discussion of the Religion Clauses' treatment considers church autonomy in light of Hosanna-Tabor. The text on freedom of expression has been revised to incorporate new cases such as Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (on campaign finance regulation), Snyder v. Phelps (on intentional infliction of emotional distress), Brown v. Entertainment Merchants’ Ass’n (on violent video games), FCC v. Fox Television Stations (on expletives in broadcasting), and United States v. Alvarez (on criminal liability for lying about receiving medals of honor.) New material on privacy and the Internet brings the Seventh Edition completely up to date.
CasebookConnect features:
ONLINE E-BOOK
Law school comes with a lot of reading, so access your enhanced e-book anytime, anywhere to keep up with your coursework. Highlight, take notes in the margins, and search the full text to quickly find coverage of legal topics.
PRACTICE QUESTIONS
Quiz yourself before class and prep for your exam in the Study Center. Practice questions from Examples & Explanations, Emanuel Law Outlines, Emanuel Law in a Flash flashcards, and other best-selling study aid series help you study for exams while tracking your strengths and weaknesses to help optimize your study time.
OUTLINE TOOL
Most professors will tell you that starting your outline early is key to being successful in your law school classes. The Outline Tool automatically populates your notes and highlights from the e-book into an editable format to accelerate your outline creation and increase study time later in the semester.