FOREWORD: DEMOSPRUDENCE THROUGH DISSENT

This article argues that oral dissents have a distinctive potential to root disagreement about the meaning and interpretation of constitutional law in a more democratically accountable soil. Part I places the practice of dissent in its historic context. Here the article focuses on the question of wh...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Harvard law review 2008-11, Vol.122 (1), p.6
Main Author: Guinier, Lani
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accountability
Audiences
Constitutional law
Democracy
Judicial discretion
Judicial process
State court decisions
Supreme Court decisions
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article argues that oral dissents have a distinctive potential to root disagreement about the meaning and interpretation of constitutional law in a more democratically accountable soil. Part I places the practice of dissent in its historic context. Here the article focuses on the question of who constitutes the audience of Supreme Court opinions, starting with the upsurge and then gradual decline in the judicial/academic conversation about law in conjunction with the evolving role of dissents by Supreme Court Justices in the last 100 years. Part II introduces the concept of demosprudence through dissent by emphasizing the potential of oral dissents to expand the audience for judicial decisionmaking and to engage that audience in democratic deliberation about constitutional law. Part III uses the constitutive elements of demosprudence to analyze the October 2007 Term for its demosprudential qualities in light of the dynamic relationship between constitutional law and constitutional culture. Part IV explores the implications of demosprudence through dissent.
ISSN:0017-811X
2161-976X