The Supermajority, Michael Waldman
The Supermajority, Michael Waldman
List: $26.99 | Sale: $18.89
Club: $13.49

The Supermajority
How the Supreme Court Divided America

Author: Michael Waldman

Narrator: Robertson Dean

Unabridged: 11 hr 15 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/06/2023


Synopsis

A “terrific, if chilling, account” (The Guardian) of how the Supreme Court’s new conservative supermajority is overturning decades of law and leading the country in a dangerous political direction.

In The Supermajority, Michael Waldman explores the tumultuous 2021­­–2022 Supreme Court term. He draws deeply on history to examine other times the Court veered from the popular will, provoking controversy, and backlash. And he analyzes the most important new rulings and their implications for the law and for American society. Waldman asks: What can we do when the Supreme Court challenges the country?

Over three days in June 2022, the conservative supermajority overturned the constitutional right to abortion, possibly opening the door to reconsider other major privacy rights, as Justice Clarence Thomas urged. The Court sharply limited the authority of the EPA, reducing the prospects for combatting climate change. It radically loosened curbs on guns amid an epidemic of mass shootings. It fully embraced legal theories such as “originalism” that will affect thousands of cases throughout the country.

These major decisions—and the next wave to come—will have enormous ramifications for every American.

It was the most turbulent term in memory—with the leak of the opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, the first Black woman justice sworn in, and the justices turning on each other in public, Waldman previews the 2022­–2023 term and how the brewing fights over the Supreme Court and its role that already have begun to reshape politics.

The Supermajority is “a call to action as much as it is a history of the Supreme Court “ (Financial Times) at a time when the Court’s dysfunction—and the demand for reform—are at the center of public debate.

About Michael Waldman

Michael Waldman is president and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to revitalize the nation’s systems of democracy and justice. He was director of speechwriting for President Bill Clinton from 1995 to 1999 and is the author of The Second Amendment: A Biography and The Fight to Vote. Waldman was a member of the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court. A graduate of Columbia College and NYU School of Law, he comments widely in the media on law and policy.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Thomas on June 11, 2023

The Supermajority is a timely and vital analysis of the Supreme Court's 2022 term and the dangers created by the six member conservative majority. The book is accessible to lawyers and lay people alike and by the end makes a strong case for why the current court is a product of decades of political......more

Goodreads review by Ryan on July 19, 2023

This book was heavy with historical context at many points that I had to catch up on but it was very well researched and leaves you feeling a bit crestfallen at our current predicament with the Supreme Court. Would definitely recommend this to others who want to learn more about how our highest cour......more

Goodreads review by Dasha on October 13, 2023

Expanded my knowledge past what I learnt in Hamilton......more

Goodreads review by Melanie on March 21, 2024

This has so much history of how we got the court we have today. Some of it is still shocking to me. “Let’s shed any illusions: today’s justices are not conservative because they are originalists; they are originalists because it is conservative. They fly a flag of convenience.” !!!!!......more

Goodreads review by Hung on February 16, 2024

The Supreme Court, 9 unelected people serving for life, wields so much power. Some members of the Court are corrupted. Its decisions were not always right and have been more extreme recently. Unbelivable. This book provided a window into how the Court makes its decisions and how it affects every Ame......more