Authors

Erwin Chemerinsky

The Court Should Not Let Politically Divided Times Affects Its Choices and Decisions

Abstract

The Court should not let politically divided times affect its choices or decisions. Altering the Court’s role in politically divided times would require a definition of what qualifies as such an era and a theory of how to act in such times. Almost every era in American history could be deemed a politically divided time. Changing the Court’s role in politically divided times is inconsistent with its preeminent role: interpreting and enforcing the Constitution. This role does not change, and should not change, in politically charged moments. Indeed, history shows that the Court cannot know what is likely to lessen divisiveness, and when it has tried, it has gotten it tragically wrong.

Repository Citation

Erwin Chemerinsky, The Court Should Not Let Politically Divided Times Affects Its Choices and Decisions, 61 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 971 (2020), https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr/vol61/iss4/3