Court Case

30 April 1924. At the Court of the King's Bench in London, the highest court in the Empire, an English judge and jury heard the case that would change the course of India's history: Sir Michael O'Dwyer, the former Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab – and architect of the infamous Jallianwala Bagh massacre – had filed a defamation case against Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair for having published a book in which he referred to the atrocities committed by the Raj in Punjab.

From 1953 to 1969, the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren brought about many of the proudest achievements of American constitutional law. The Warren declared racial segregation and laws forbidding interracial marriage to be unconstitutional; it expanded the right of citizens to criticize public officials; it held school prayer unconstitutional; and it ruled that people accused of a crime must be given a lawyer even if they can't afford one. Yet, despite those and other achievements, conservative critics have fiercely accused the justices of the Warren Court of abusing their authority by supposedly imposing their own opinions on the nation.

"Magill's Choice: U.S. Supreme Court" is an affordable, comprehensive and up-to-date survey of the history and functions of the Supreme Court. There are articles on all the justices, including those appointed by George W. Bush, articles on key constitutional issues, and more than 110 on landmark cases. "U.S. Supreme Court" is well organized and features clearly written articles. It offers the additional advantage of coming out at a time when the Supreme Court itself is undergoing important changes that need to be explained. Covered here are issues such as the Court responding to the aftermath of 9/11, the complications of the 2000 presidential election, U.S. involvement in Iraq, and the replacement of two justices, including the chief justice.