Title of the article

At the Doctrinal-legal Crossroads: the Supreme Court of the USA Presided by W. Berger (1969–1986)

 Authors 

Elena A. Ageeva —  Candidate of Law, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Sub-department of Theories and History of State and Law, Saint Petersburg State University of Economics, 30–32 Griboedova Canal Embankment, Saint Petersburg, 191023, elenaageeva2013@mail.ru

 Category 

THEORETICAL AND HISTORICAL LEGAL SCIENCES

Year,.Volume, Number 

2021, Vol. 9, № 4 (36)

 Pages 

5-10

 Article type 

Original article

 Index UDK 

340.131.5

 DOI 

10.21685/2307-9525-2021-9-4-1

 Abstract 

Background. The article is devoted to the activity of the US Supreme Court under the Chief Justice W. Berger (Warren Earl Burger) from 1969 to 1986. For a number of historical and political reasons, the Supreme Court assumed the role of a reformer taking part in state administration during the period under review. Materials and methods. The aim of the study is achieved through analyzing the activity of the US Supreme Court from 1969 to 1986, the main judicial decisions of the US Supreme Court in their relationship to politics, political attitudes and social life of this period. The study uses the historical and legal method to explore the activity of the US Supreme Court in the second half of the 20th century, as well as the comparative legal method to trace the attitude of the Supreme Court to certain issues in the period under review compared to the previous one, characterized as the period when liberal judicial lawmaking was more activist as ever. Results. The activity of the US Supreme Court from 1969 to 1986 is investigated. This period can be designated as a qualitatively new stage in functioning of the Supreme Court: the Presidentelect R. Nixon nominated a new chairman of the highest judicial body to replace the retired E. Warren. When Berger was appointed as the Chief Justice, the con-servative members of the Nixon administration expected the court under his chairmanship to be distinctly different from that of Warren and to redefine the controversial precedents of the previous chief justice's era. Nixon hoped that Berger would provide the strong leadership needed to curb what he and many conservatives saw as Warren's court liberalism. The Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court W. Berger was known, in particu-lar, for the fact that he served the longest term as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in the 20th century and his court was able to consider various categories of cases, including those related to freedom of religion, desegregation, death penalty, etc. Conclusions. The study of the activity of the US Supreme Court from 1969 to 1986 and decisions made in the period under review showed that by the beginning of the 1970s it became obvious that the court presided by Berger did not overturn the court decisions of the previous Chief Justice E. Warren, but nevertheless made numerous conservative decisions.

 Keywords 

US Supreme Court, Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, decisions of the US Supreme Court, US legislation

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References

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For citation

Ageeva E.A. At the Doctrinal-legal Crossroads: the Supreme Court of the USA Presided by W. Berger (1969–1986). Elektronnyy nauchnyy zhurnal "Nauka. Obshchestvo. Gosudarstvo" = Electronic scientific journal "Science. Society. State". 2021;9(4):5–10. (In Russ.). doi:10.21685/2307-9525-2021-9-4-1