What exactly is judicial activism? -- A short history of "activist" judges -- Griswold v. Connecticut and the rise of judicial prophecy -- Prophetic interpretation of biblical law -- The idea of American law -- Contemporary problems for the activist judge : race, religion, same-sex marriage, abortion, and euthanasia
Summary
America's Prophets: How Judicial Activism Makes America Great fills a major void in the popular literature by providing a thorough definition and historical account of judicial activism and by arguing that it is a method of prophetic adjudication which is essential to preserving American values. Dow confounds the allegation of the Christian right that judicial activism is legally and morally unsound by tracing the roots of American judicial activism to the methods of legal and moral interpretation developed by the prophets of the Hebrew Bible. He claims that Isaiah, Amos, and Jesus are archet