Document Type
Book Review
Abstract
This book review discusses Justice Abandoned: How the Supreme Court Ignored the Constitution and Enabled Mass Incarceration by Rachel Barkow. The review concludes that the book persuasively argues that from the 1960s through the 1980s, the Supreme Court repeatedly departed from constitutional text, history, and precedent in expanding the government’s power to arrest, prosecute, and detain. And contends that these trends both curtailed individual liberty and worsened racial inequality. The review then builds on Barkow’s important scholarship to extend her conversation to cover criminal litigation in general jurisdiction state courts—where people are compelled to go when they are cited or arrested for low-level offenses such as misdemeanors, traffic offenses, and infractions.
Recommended Citation
Harvey Gee, Book Review: After Apprendi and Erlinger, the Jury - Not the Judge - Determine Whether or Not the Defendant is a Habitual Traffic Offender, 18 ConLawNOW 61 (2026)