Take a deep dive into rulings during the Obama presidency which laid the groundwork for today’s questions over the Supreme Court’s legitimacy.
Can the government seize your house to build a shopping mall? Can it determine what control you have over your own body? Can police search your cellphone? The answers to those questions come from the Supreme Court, whose rulings have shaped American life and justice and allowed Americans to retain basic freedoms such as privacy, free speech, and the right to a fair trial.
Especially relevant in light of recent controversial nominations and rulings, the revised and updated edition of Michael G. Trachtman’s page-turner includes ten important cases from 2010 to 2015. In addition, a special section features analyses of the term rulings that were planned for June 2016.
The cases include:
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), which restricts the right of governments to limit campaign contributions by corporations and unions; Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014), which allows a religious exemption from the Affordable Care Act requirement that corporations pay for contraceptive coverage for their employees; Riley v. California (2014), which ruled that police need warrants to search the cellphones of people they arrest; and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), which ruled that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage.
“You can turn to any page . . . and have an ‘Aha! So that’s how this shakes out’ moment . . . Trachtman is terrific at explaining complex issues in plain language.” —San Diego Union Tribune