The Impact of Supreme Court Decisions on US Institutions
This book bridges the disciplines of legal studies and sociology in its engaging introduction to the history, purpose, function, and influence of the Supreme Court, demonstrating through ten landmark decisions the Courts impact on the five key sociological institutions in the United States: family, education, religion, government, and economy. It gives an insightful picture of how these major decisions have additionally affected other sociological categories such as gender, sexual orientation, race, class/inequality, and deviance. The reader not only gains familiarity with foundational concepts in both sociology and constitutional law, but is given tools to decipher the legal language of Supreme Court decisions through non-intimidating abridgments of those decisions, enhancing their critical literacy. This book demonstrates the direct applicability of the Supreme Court to the lives of Americans and how landmark decisions have far-reaching repercussions that affect all of us.
The Impact of Supreme Court Decisions on US Institutions is essential reading for undergraduate students in social science courses as well as others interested in the workings of the justice system.
Robert Costello, JD., EdD., is Chair and Professor of Criminal Justice at SUNY Nassau Community College and Adjunct Professor of Sociology at Hofstra University. He earned a Doctor of Education from Dowling College, a Master of Arts in Criminal Justice from SUNY Albany, a Master of Arts in Sociology and a Juris Doctorate both from St. Johns University and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences from Hofstra University. An author of over 75 publications, he received a Fulbright Scholars Award in Law to lecture at the University of Malta Faculty of Law. Other honors include serving as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridges Institute of Criminology/Socio-Legal Group, Associate Faculty Member at Columbia Universitys Faculty Seminar Series/Drugs & Society, and Research Associate at Hofstra Universitys Maurice A. Deane School of Law/Center for Children, Families and the Law. His prior books include New Yorks Criminal Justice System (2019) and New Jerseys Criminal Justice System (2020). He also writes a column for Criminal Justice, a quarterly periodical of the American Bar Association. A dedicated classroom educator, his work and commitment to students has been recognized with various honors including a SUNY Chancellors Award for Excellence in Teaching, Faculty Appreciation Awards from the NCC Center for Students with Disabilities and the NCC Student Organization of Latinos.
Admitted to practice law in New York State, he is a Certified Impartial Hearing Officer and adjudicates disputes between parents and public schools over special education matters within the New York City region. He is also admitted to the United States Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York and the United States Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York. His community work includes serving as a board member for several non-profits and on editorial boards for academic journals.
Colleen Eren, PhD., is Program Director of Criminology and Criminal Justice and an Associate Professor at William Paterson University. A member of the Criminal Justice Research Alliance, her first book, Bernie Madoff and the Crisis: The Public Trial of Capitalism (2017) examined how the Ponzi scheme became a vehicle through which to discuss socio-economic issues behind the financial crisis of 2008. Her upcoming book, Reform Nation: The Movement Against Mass Incarceration, with Stanford University Press explores the unlikely confluence of stakeholders uniting around criminal justice reform for the past 20 years. She has been published in numerous academic journals and media outlets, including The Journal of White Collar and Corporate Crime, the Journal of Criminal Justice Education, New Politics, as well as in the New York Times. She previously served as Director of Organizing at New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty, helping to successfully lead a statewide campaign, and was a steering committee member of Amnestys Program to Abolish the Death Penalty. She is an executive committee board member of New Hour for Women and Children.
The Impact of Supreme Court Decisions on US Institutions
A Sociology of Law Primer
Robert Costello and Colleen Eren
First published 2022
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2022 Taylor & Francis
The right of Robert Costello and Colleen Eren to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Eren, Colleen P., author. | Costello, Robert G., author.
Title: The impact of Supreme Court decisions on U.S. institutions : a sociology of law primer / Colleen Eren & Robert Costello.
Description: New York, NY ; Abingdon, Oxon : Routledge, 2022. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021016506 (print) | LCCN 2021016507 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367898496 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367898489 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003021438 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: United States. Supreme Court. | Sociological jurisprudenceUnited StatesCases. | Constitutional lawUnited StatesCases. | LCGFT: Textbooks.
Classification: LCC KF8742 .E74 2022 (print) | LCC KF8742 (ebook) | DDC 347.7326/0264dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021016506
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021016507
ISBN: 9780367898496 (hbk)
ISBN: 9780367898489 (pbk)
ISBN: 9781003021438 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003021438
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
All royalties from this book will be donated directly to Gideons Promise, a public defender organization whose mission is to transform the criminal justice system by building a movement of public defenders who provide equal justice for marginalized communities. website: Additional information about Gideons Promise is available by visiting their website: gideonspromise.org
RC: For Martha & James Costello: thank you, Mom and Dad, for everything!
CE: For my undergraduate professors, now life-long friends, who took me under their wing: Silvia Federici, Arthur Dobrin, and Conrad Herold
