Book cover to Packing the Court .
Packing the Court: The Rise of Judicial Power and The Coming Crisis of the Supreme Court
By James MacGregor Burns Penguin; 326 pages
"Presidents come and go," observed former President and Chief Justice William Howard Taft, "but the Supreme Court goes on forever." That prospect troubles historian James MacGregor Burns, whose 15th book is a provocative assault on the "imperious" court and its tightening grip on governmental power. Unaccountable Justices have seized the right to overturn acts of Congress--an authority not found in the Constitution--and increasingly thwart the popular will, Burns argues. From blocking Reconstruction-era civil rights to slowing the New...
