Law, Business, and Society 9th Edition by Tony McAdams

Exercise 35

The U.S. Supreme Court ended its first full term under new Chief Justice John Roberts in June 2007 with a series of decisions that appeared to represent a shift toward a more conservative stance; including decisions upholding abortion restrictions, cutting back on free speech rights in schools, and limiting the use of race as a consideration in school integration efforts. 45 Perhaps the most notable feature of the Court's alleged shift to the right is a philosophy that Chief Justice Roberts has called "judicial selfrestraint." 46 The conservative majority on the Court repeatedly concluded that many cases simply did not belong in court at all. The Wall Street Journal described that change in the Court's direction as follows:
Taken as a whole, the Supreme Court term that ended last week reflected conservatives'antipathy to what they label judicial activism-courts making decisions they believe are best left to an elected executive, a legislature or the rough and tumble of the free market. That runs counter to much of the past 50 years, during which the nation's highest court saw litigation as a way to reshape American society, leading to rulings that outlawed racial segregation, recognized individual privacy rights, and curbed police misconduct. 47
Are you most supportive of the current judicial restraint approach championed by Chief Justice Roberts, or would you prefer the judicial activism that was more characteristic of the Court in previous decades Explain.