Earl Warren and the Struggle for Justice

by Paul Moke

Overview

Few individuals did more to shape the political and legal landscape of twentieth century America than Earl Warren. Throughout fifty years of public service, Warren pursued a Progressive vision of ethical and effective government that brought moral integrity to the nation’s public policies, especially in the fields of racial relations, criminal justice, and freedom of marital association. Warren’s path-breaking approach to legal writing and his management of the responsibilities of the Office of Chief Justice encouraged public understanding of and support for the work of the Supreme Court. But his controversial years in California state government and as Chair of the Warren Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy also featured serious lapses in judgment and uncritical deference to authority figures in matters of national security that have clouded his legacy. This thoughtful and readable biography offers an updated and balanced appraisal of Warren’s leading social justice decisions and a liberal critique of his failings that provides new insights into Warren, the man, the jurist, and the leader.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498520133
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	10/08/2015
Pages:	406
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Paul Moke is professor of political science at Wilmington College.

Table of Contents

Preface
Chapter 1. Earl Warren and the People’s Court

Part I. Childhood, Education, and Early Career
Chapter 2. Coming of Age
Chapter 3. The D.A. On the Waterfront

Part II: Finding a National Voice
Chapter 4. The War at Home
Chapter 5. California’s Favorite Son

Part III: Earl Warren on the Bench
Chapter 6. A Day That Will Live in Glory
Chapter 7. All Deliberate Speed
Chapter 8. The Super Chief
Chapter 9. The Warren Court and the Civil Rights Movement
Chapter 10. Reforming Criminal Justice

Part IV. Earl Warren Off the Bench
Chapter 11. An Incident in Dallas
Chapter 12. The Warren Commission and the Kennedy Assassination

Part V. Conclusion
Chapter 13. The End of the Warren Court
Chapter 14. The Legacy of Earl Warren

Bibliography
About the Author

Editorial Reviews

A thoroughly researched account of Warren’s extraordinary life that draws on newly available original sources and provides a comprehensive portrait of his major contributions to 20th Century justice in the U.S., both on and off the bench. Moke’s balanced work identifies Warren’s great virtues and achievements as well as some critical failures, providing a scholarly perspective accessible to a wide audience

Howard Tolley

Earl Warren and the Struggle for Justice brings vividly to life the story of America’s most progressive chief justice, in all his humanity and brilliance. Relying on previously unexplored sources, Professor Moke traces the roots of Earl Warren’s relentless belief in the dignity of every person and his determination to ensure that those who are poor and vulnerable receive a fair shake. This book is a marvelous reminder of what the Supreme Court can accomplish when it dedicates itself to making the words engraved above its entrance—equal justice under law—a reality rather than a mere slogan.

Daniel P. Tokaji

This book presents the details of Warren’s life and career, including some of his
best known Supreme Court decisions, in an accessible fashion. Persons without legal
training will be able to get a good sense of Warren’s contributions. Likewise, it
responds, in a way that other books on Warren have not, to the ‘conservative’
criticism of the Warren Court that has surfaced in the last decade.

G. Edward White

The book presents additional insight into the work of the Warren Commission.

Wilmington News-Journal

Moke argues that Earl Warren was one of the central political figures of his time. Warren, who had been attorney general and governor of California, was chief justice from 1953 to 1969; he participated in the civil rights revolution that benefited African Americans, the cases that were meant to enforce the rights of criminally accused persons, and the court-ordered reapportionments of legislatures based on the one-person, one-vote principle. Moke’s thesis is easily proven; Warren is considered so influential in these developments that the period is commonly called the Warren Era. Moke mines previously plundered archives and contributes some new material from the 1930s.. . .Moke makes a contribution, showing how the attorney general who supported the Japanese exclusion of 1942 developed into the author of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and how the prosecutor who carelessly disregarded the rights of accused persons in the 1930s grew into the defender of the Miranda warning. But in 1964, Moke notes, Warren failed to 'speak truth to power' as the chairman of the Warren Commission. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and undergraduate students.

Choice Reviews

[An] insightful judicial biography.. .. Moke’s biography provides an evenhanded appraisal of the Chief Justice’s shortcomings and misjudgments not only while on the bench but in his public service prior to and beyond the high court. An equally important contribution of Moke’s book, possibly of greater value in this reviewer’s estimation, reminds us how the Supreme Court’s approach to the law, often guided by its Chief Justice, matters.. . Hopefully, [the book] will.. . find a home in college and university holdings as well as public libraries; it deserves to be read.

American Review of Politics

Moke argues that Earl Warren was one of the central political figures of his time. Warren, who had been attorney general and governor of California, was chief justice from 1953 to 1969; he participated in the civil rights revolution that benefited African Americans, the cases that were meant to enforce the rights of criminally accused persons, and the court-ordered reapportionments of legislatures based on the one-person, one-vote principle. Moke’s thesis is easily proven; Warren is considered so influential in these developments that the period is commonly called the Warren Era. Moke mines previously plundered archives and contributes some new material from the 1930s.. . .Moke makes a contribution, showing how the attorney general who supported the Japanese exclusion of 1942 developed into the author of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and how the prosecutor who carelessly disregarded the rights of accused persons in the 1930s grew into the defender of the Miranda warning. But in 1964, Moke notes, Warren failed to 'speak truth to power' as the chairman of the Warren Commission. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and undergraduate students.

Choice

Moke argues that Earl Warren was one of the central political figures of his time. Warren, who had been attorney general and governor of California, was chief justice from 1953 to 1969; he participated in the civil rights revolution that benefited African Americans, the cases that were meant to enforce the rights of criminally accused persons, and the court-ordered reapportionments of legislatures based on the one-person, one-vote principle. Moke’s thesis is easily proven; Warren is considered so influential in these developments that the period is commonly called the Warren Era. Moke mines previously plundered archives and contributes some new material from the 1930s. . . .Moke makes a contribution, showing how the attorney general who supported the Japanese exclusion of 1942 developed into the author of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and how the prosecutor who carelessly disregarded the rights of accused persons in the 1930s grew into the defender of the Miranda warning. But in 1964, Moke notes, Warren failed to 'speak truth to power' as the chairman of the Warren Commission. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and undergraduate students.

CHOICE