Making Constitutional Law: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court, 1961-1991

Following on Making Civil Rights Law, which covered Thurgood Marshall’s career from 1936-1961, this book focuses on Marshall’s career on the Supreme Court from 1961-1991, where he was the first African-American Justice. Based on thorough research in the Supreme Court papers of Justice Marshall and others, this book describes Marshall’s approach to constitutional law in areas ranging from civil rights and the death penalty to abortion and poverty. It locates the Supreme Court from 1967 to 1991 in a broader socio-political context, showing how the nation’s drift toward conservatism affected the Court’s debates and decisions.