Includes bibliographical references (p. [307]-318) and index.

Life on the Court: what's it like? -- The court's agenda -- Judicial appointment and tenure: a history -- The Supreme Court reports -- Magna Carta and the rule of law -- The Constitution -- The ratification -- The evolution of the Bill of rights -- The Judiciary act of 1789 and American judicial tradition -- Impeachment and judicial independence -- A President, a Chief Justice and the writ of habeas corpus -- The rights of the individual and the legacy of Holmes -- William Howard Taft and the importance of unanimity -- Charles Evans Hughes and President Roosevelt's Court-expansion plan -- Thurgood Marshall: the influence of a raconteur -- Warren E. Burger -- Lewis F. Powell, Jr. -- Women in society: the American experience -- The women's suffrage movement and its aftermath -- Women in judging -- Women in power -- Organization and structure of the American judicial system -- Juries: problems and solutions -- Professionalism -- Broadening our horizons -- Shield of freedom: the American Constitution and its Court -- The life of the law: principles of logic and experience from the United States -- Through the looking glass and into the crystal ball.