Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr.: A Biography

Biographies, especially judicial biographies, are typically centered around gossip, amateur psychology, political "message," or numbing minutiae. Dean Jeffries avoids those vices by using the late Justice Lewis Powell as the backdrop for an expert analysis of the gripping issues of Powell's tenure on the Court: the death penalty, privacy rights, poverty law, criminal jurisprudence, race and affirmative action, the First Amendment, etc. He tackles each of them with artful prose and persuasive logic. By depicting these developments as a panorama rather than a series of close ups, Dean Jeffries offers the educated reader invaluable insights into issues that still dominate our own times. Through the prism of events, we easily come to appreciate the extraordinary skills, energy, and intellect of Justice Powell himself. (We are also drawn to reflect on how hateful the present system of "confirmation by ordeal" truly is.) This book is perfect as a gift for lawyers and anyone truly interested in understanding the law as the environment in which social policy dwells.