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International Law in American Courts: A Modest Proposal
Brilmayer, Lea
Brilmayer, Lea
Abstract
By this point, we are pretty much resigned to a certain level of public controversy over the proper role of our courts, in particular our federal courts. Key Warren Court decisions sparked a fairly acrimonious debate over whether courts are appropriate vehicles for restructuring American society in the name of social justice, and some thirty or forty years later, this question still preoccupies academics, politicians, the press and public, and the judges themselves. Few Americans openly doubt that judicial review of some sort is appropriate, but the extent to which courts should exercise the power is hotly disputed. We are all familiar with the arguments for and against judicial activism in a democratic society; the debate is a perennial part of our judicial politics, and shows no signs of going away.