New at Reason: Damon Root on the Supreme Court and Public Opinion

October 28, 2009

In his new book The Will of the People, NYU law professor Barry Friedman argues that the Supreme Court never gets too far ahead of (or behind) public opinion, even when it comes to its most controversial decisions. But as Associate Editor Damon W. Root writes, the whole point of having a written constitution is to offer a permanent check against the shifting desires of the majority. So if it’s indeed true that the Court eventually just gives way to public opinion, how much independent meaning does the Constitution actually retain?

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