First Principles: The Jurisprudence of Clarence Thomas

by Scott Douglas Gerber

Overview

An assessment of the first five years of Justice Clarence Thomas's time on the Court

Clarence Thomas is one of the most vilified public figures of our day. Time magazine called him “Uncle Tom Justice,” and famed columnist Nat Hentoff accused him of “having done more damage, more quickly, than any Supreme Court Justice in history.”

To date, however, his legal philosophy has received only cursory treatment. Scott Gerber provides a portrait of Thomas based not on the justice's caricatured reputation, but on his judicial opinions and votes, his scholarly writings, and his public speeches. And what Gerber finds is likely to surprise Justice Thomas’s critics and supporters alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814731000
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	04/01/2002
Pages:	305
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Scott Douglas Gerber, Ph.D., J.D., is author of To Secure These Rights: The Declaration of Independence and Constitutional Interpretation and editor of Seriatim: The Supreme Court before John Marshall, both available from New York University Press. He teaches at Ohio Northern University College of Law.

Table of Contents

I Politics

1 Judging Thomas

2 The “Natural Law Thing”

II Law

3 Civil Rights

4 Civil Liberties

5 Federalism

III Law and Politics

6 Conclusion

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"...An excellent and balanced review of the justice's first years on the Court."

-National Review,

"Gerber is scrupulously honest in dissecting Thomas' opinions, their legal background, and their place in the Court's jurisprudence, and he demonstrates his own excellent capabilities as an objective, fair, thoughtful, and thorough scholar."

-The Federal Lawyer,

"The virture of Scott Gerber's new study ... is that it puts in better perspective Thomas's whole career."

-The Weekly Standard,

"Gerber's book is a breath of fresh air, because it treats Justice Thomas and his work with respect and intellectual curiosity."

-Ideas on Liberty,

"...the most comprehensive and incisive account of Thomas' political philosophy to date."

-First Things

Editorial Reviews

"Gerber is scrupulously honest in dissecting Thomas' opinions, their legal background, and their place in the Court's jurisprudence, and he demonstrates his own excellent capabilities as an objective, fair, thoughtful, and thorough scholar."

The Federal Lawyer

"Elevates the debate and thereby does a great service to Justice Thomas, the Court, and the country"

Green Bag

"Gerber's book is a breath of fresh air, because it treats Justice Thomas and his work with respect and intellectual curiosity."

Ideas on Liberty

"...the most comprehensive and incisive account of Thomas' political philosophy to date."

First Things

"...An excellent and balanced review of the justice's first years on the Court."

National Review

"The virtue of Scott Gerber's new study ... is that it puts in better perspective Thomas's whole career."

The Weekly Standard

""...An excellent and balanced review of the justice's first years on the Court.""

National Review

"Gerber is scrupulously honest in dissecting Thomas' opinions, their legal background, and their place in the Court's jurisprudence, and he demonstrates his own excellent capabilities as an objective, fair, thoughtful, and thorough scholar."

- The Federal Lawyer

"The virture of Scott Gerber's new study ... is that it puts in better perspective Thomas's whole career."

- The Weekly Standard

"...An excellent and balanced review of the justice's first years on the Court."

- National Review

From the Publisher

Scott Gerber’s book is a sincere — and fair — effort to try objectively to go beyond the dramatic Senate hearings and vicious attacks on candidate-then-Judge Thomas; to explain away the condemnation of the Justice; and to cull Thomas's first principles from his written opinions (mostly concurring), handed down in his first five Terms....Certainly, Professor Gerber has given us a good, somewhat objective account of Thomas’s first five years on the Court.
— Jurist: The Law Professors' Network

Howard Ball

Gerber has written before on the US Supreme Court of the past, but here he turns to a current Justice. His goal is to dismiss the barrage of political and personal criticism that surrounds Thomas and create a portrait of him based on his judicial opinions and votes, his scholarly writings, and his public speeches. Gerber says both supporters and opponents of Thomas may be surprised. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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