New book from Thomas Keck explores judicial review and
politics

Thomas Keck, associate professor of political science and
Sawyer Chair of Constitutional Law and Politics, is the author of a new book, Judicial Politics in Polarized Times (University
of Chicago Press, 2014).
In his book, Keck considers whether judges are neutral legal
umpires, unaccountable partisan activists, or political actors whose decisions
conform to – rather than challenge – the democratic will. Carefully examining litigation on highly
partisan issues like abortion, affirmative action, gay rights, and gun rights
throughout the Clinton, Bush, and Obama presidencies (including the Supreme
Court’s recent decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act), Keck argues that
legal decisions are not politically neutral products, nor are judges “tyrants
in robes” who undermine democratic values by imposing their own
preferences. Just as often, he says, judges
and the public seem to be pushing in the same direction.
Keck is the author of The
Most Activist Supreme Court in History: The Road to Modern Judicial
Conservatism (University of Chicago Press) and a number of academic
articles for the “American Political Science Review,” “Law and Society Review,”
and “Law and Social Inquiry.” 11/24/14