The Burger Years

Despite its conservatism, the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Warren E. Burger continued many traditions of the Warren Court, with notable exceptions, observes Schwartz. In this lucid overview, based on a special issue of the Nation magazine, liberal lawyer-activists examine the Burger Court's major decisions and its impact on 15 crucial issues related to the First Amendment, equality, criminal justice and federal regulation of the economy. Contributors find, for example, that the Burger Court favored business and property rights and deferred to the executive branch in national security matters. Yet there were no essential changes in such existing guarantees as church-state separation and minority rights. The writers include New York University scholar Burt Neuborne, journalist-lawyer Sidney Zion and ACLU Washington director Morton Halperin. Schwartz teaches law at American University. (April 14)