Fifteen Years of Supreme Court Criminal Procedure Work: Three Constitutional Brushes

24 Pages Posted: 5 Oct 2014 Last revised: 14 Nov 2014

Date Written: October 2, 2014

Abstract

This essay – written in connection with a French National Research Agency project on “Neo or Retro Constitutionalisms” – is an effort to pull together the last fifteen years of Supreme Court criminal procedure cases expanding constitutional protections. It identifies three different styles: thin and clear doctrinal lines on miniature doctrinal canvases that have only passing connections to criminal justice realities; episodic and self-limiting engagements with a potentially larger regulatory space; and a grand style that hints at sweeping structural ambitions but collaborates with other regulatory authorities. Readers undoubtedly can come up with more than three styles. But, in any event, the exercise highlights the limited nature of the Court’s work during this period, the limits of formalism, and the need for scholars to disaggregate broad references to “constitutionalism.”

Suggested Citation

Richman, Daniel C., Fifteen Years of Supreme Court Criminal Procedure Work: Three Constitutional Brushes (October 2, 2014). Columbia Public Law Research Paper No. 14-425, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2504692 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2504692

Daniel C. Richman (Contact Author)

Columbia Law School ( email )

435 West 116th Street
New York, NY 10025
United States

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