Unchain the Courts - An Essay on the Role of the Federal Courts in the Vindication of Social Rights
Arizona State Law Journal, p. 437, 1976
23 Pages Posted: 29 May 2009
Date Written: 1976
Abstract
The Supreme Court under Chief Justice Burger has restricted the anticipated growth of constitutional doctrines developed in the 1960's during the Warren Court era. In this essay, Professor Berch traces these restrictions in the context of the poor seeking access to the lower federal courts for the vindication of their constitutional rights. While the Court has shut off or severely curtailed access in many cases, chiefly by the strained application of the standing rubric, the opinions do indicate faith in the political process for eventual solutions. The essay envisages the failure of the political process to solve many of the problems confronting the poor and disadvantaged and an eventual return of these grievances to the federal courts.
Keywords: federal courts, jurisdiction, constitutional law
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation