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tomrrandall's review
3.0
The premise is covered pretty well in the first third (on the movement for same-sex marriage) and the rest can be safely skimmed or skipped. The idea that citizen activists and groups lay the groundwork for SCOTUS decisions through local, state, and federal activism is intriguing and worth remembering, but ultimately this would have worked better if it were about half as long.
brlockwood's review against another edition
5.0
This book is for anyone who's ever felt that citizens don't hold power over their governments. Through the lens of three case studies, Cole provides a roadmap for effecting change to constitutional law, and how that path can be unpredictable.
rachel_shea's review against another edition
4.0
I thought this book was incredible! I truly enjoyed how Cole maintained the balance between giving the reader hope, but also an accurate portrayal of how hard it is and how much work it requires to create lasting change in this country, and to maintain this lasting change still requires activism and holding those in power responsible. It made me think about my own views and how I spend my time!
derekcaelin's review
4.0
Main takeaways:
- The courts are only part of the way that constitutional law changes. How judges and justices view the law depends a lot on how the nation views the laws.
- Because of this, the effort to shift ideas needs to take place at a variety of other levels. Develop an academic background to reference. Do door-to-door campaigns and appeal to individuals with narratives that actually influence them. Win on a small scale - at the state. Win incrementally.
- The current interpretation of the 2nd amendment as supporting an individual right to bear arms is a modern interpretation. Before 2008 the supreme court had never recognized a constitutional right for the individual to bear arms. The perception changed because a devoted campaign by the NRA to establish the individual right in scholarship, in state laws since the 1970s was dramatically successful.
- This is an example about how nothing is set in stone. Fatalism is useless.
-"Hope is more the consequence of action than its cause. As the experience of the spectator facor fatalism, so the experience of the agent produces hope." - Roberto Unger and Cornel West
- The courts are only part of the way that constitutional law changes. How judges and justices view the law depends a lot on how the nation views the laws.
- Because of this, the effort to shift ideas needs to take place at a variety of other levels. Develop an academic background to reference. Do door-to-door campaigns and appeal to individuals with narratives that actually influence them. Win on a small scale - at the state. Win incrementally.
- The current interpretation of the 2nd amendment as supporting an individual right to bear arms is a modern interpretation. Before 2008 the supreme court had never recognized a constitutional right for the individual to bear arms. The perception changed because a devoted campaign by the NRA to establish the individual right in scholarship, in state laws since the 1970s was dramatically successful.
- This is an example about how nothing is set in stone. Fatalism is useless.
-"Hope is more the consequence of action than its cause. As the experience of the spectator facor fatalism, so the experience of the agent produces hope." - Roberto Unger and Cornel West
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