Book Reviews

Th~ rccent hea rings of t hI..' Senate .Iud iciary Commilt cc nn t he proposed l'onfirmation of .Iudge Rohert Bork to he a .Iust ice of the United S tates Supreme Court dra mat i/ed t he tl'IlSiOIl withi nlh L' soc iety, the Congress and particula rl y the Iega l comll1 unit y regarding t he stahility of t he Cou rt , Al thou gh the Co urt has re, ersed itself o h"io us ly at kast 100 times, ther t: is a n:l ia ncc n n preceden t wit hin the A mcricanju ui cia l sys tem which \HHks against sel fco rre ct io n, part ie ular! , ' at the highest k,'eI of the syste m, The Supremc Co urt has I"l'\ cl"scd itsl'll" eigh t Ii Illes \\' it hi n t he first year a no in o ne case (:"\c\\' York ' ". M il n) has hcc n "i llin g to re,wse itself after 104 , 'ca rs, A 1959 study h, ' Blaustcin a nd Field indicatcd that thc an'ragc' lire o f a "mistake" h,' thc Supreme Court "as 24 years , Perhaps, thc most cg rl'giolls error kad in g to rcn:rsa l in n:cc llt tilll es was tilL' Supreme COLIrt arrro \'i.d of apartheid in p l"S"T \', F .. rguson in IX96 "hic h ,," IS not re, 'crsed until 1954 "hcn "sc pa rate hut equal" was lkcJarcd ullcon st itutional in th l' fa mous dec is ion of BrOll '1I \ ' , Buard (~r 1:'t!UCOfiol1. which lTeatt.:'d a \dlOk l1e\\' era of ciyil rights in America, Working in opposition to se lf-eorrcction "ith in the court s is the doctrine of ST·I HI:' OI:'CISIS. This respccted l11a ,\ im of reliance on preecdent tcnds to impede the opc nmilH,kd rt.:'t.:'o ns ic..k ration or so mt.:' constitutional interpretations, There is littk douht that Roc' \', " '(Jc/l' has kd to dramatit.:' t.:' hangt.:'s in soc it.:' tal heha yio r and to tht.:' growt h of expec tat io ns and institutions within the co mmunit y hased on the alleged ri ght to ahortion as a matte r o f pri Yacy , This hook is a n il1\ a luahle co mpendium of kgal scho larshi p for the ri gh t to life mo\'ement as it looks forward to t he possi hil ity of ren: rsal of Roc \', Jt '(Jc/l' after its ca la mitou s 15 yea rs of e,\istence , The hook is so me wha t di sljuict ing fo r thosc of us \rho ha \ 'e assu mcd that rC\'ersa I \\'as me rel y a matt er of c ha ngi ng t he pe rso n !lei 0 n the S 11 prcme Co u rt , Th c di s mant ling of t hc apparat us of demand a ho rtion "ill he eOl11pkx and arduous as the co ntri hut ors to this masterfu l "ork amp'" dcscri hc, T hc hoo k is d i\' id cd int o thrcc principal part s: I. Back ground and I'erspccti\'es on Ahortion: II. H is tori ca l E, 'aluation of Roc a nd A hort io n: and III. Strategies for RC\'L'rsa l of Roc ", Wade, Part I includes a "en' informat i, 'e art iek on Ahan donin g Error h" Michael Pfeifer. which is espec ially inst ructi\'c fo r IH)n-la\\'yers, Thcre is a n impressi\ 'e considcration on perso nhood h,. thc late Sen, .Iohn East and a d isappo in tin g '" hricf co nside rat ion of the Natural I. a " Ri gh ts of thc Un hortl h" .I o hn Finnis. In Part II. .Iohn Co nnery rep ca ts hi s no" "ell-kno"n and impress i,'C I\' researched posi ti on on the hihlical co nsensus agai nst a ho rt io n, and Martin A rhagi does likewise fo r t he Hi procra tic t rad it ion, A rhagi is pa rt icu la rly insight ful in ex posi ng .lust icc Black 111 a n's reliancc on the hogus Edels tein interpretation o f the Hippoc ratic pos ition on ahorti o n, Part III is thc 1110st pro\'ocati\'c section of the hook as it cxamines kga l strat eg ies , The lega l doctri ncs to hc confronted hy thcse strategics rc\'tl l\'e around thrcc principles: I) the