Pure Politics

Authors

Girardeau A. Spann, Georgetown University Law CenterFollow

Abstract

Part I of this article considers the impact that judicial discretion has on the traditional model of judicial review, and that model's reliance on the Supreme Court as the primary guardian of minority interests. Part II argues that the interests of racial minorities can be better advanced through the ordinary political process than through the process of Supreme Court adjudication. Part Ill emphasizes that minority participation in Supreme Court proceedings cannot ultimately be avoided and, accordingly, suggests a political model of the Court that minorities can use in an effort to neutralize the Court's distortion of the political process. Part IV considers the risks associated with political use of the Supreme Court. Finally, Part V concludes that the veiled majoritarian nature of judicial review poses an insoluble dilemma for racial minorities. Although the dilemma cannot be resolved, minorities do possess the power to transcend it in a way that may permit them to assume responsibility for their own interests.

Recommended Citation

Girardeau A. Spann, Pure Politics, 88 Mich. L. Rev. 1971 (1990).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol88/iss7/2