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The Great Dissenter
- The Story of John Marshall Harlan, America's Judicial Hero
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 19 hrs and 23 mins
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Publisher's summary
The “superb” (The Guardian) biography of an American who stood against all the forces of Gilded Age America to fight for civil rights and economic freedom: Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan.
They say that history is written by the victors. But not in the case of the most famous dissenter on the Supreme Court. Almost a century after his death, John Marshall Harlan’s words helped end segregation and gave us our civil rights and our modern economic freedom.
But his legacy would not have been possible without the courage of Robert Harlan, a slave who John’s father raised like a son in the same household. After the Civil War, Robert emerges as a political leader. With Black people holding power in the Republican Party, it is Robert who helps John land his appointment to the Supreme Court.
At first, John is awed by his fellow justices, but the country is changing. Northern whites are prepared to take away black rights to appease the South. Giant trusts are monopolizing entire industries. Against this onslaught, the Supreme Court seemed all too willing to strip away civil rights and invalidate labor protections. So as case after case comes before the court, challenging his core values, John makes a fateful decision: He breaks with his colleagues in fundamental ways, becoming the nation’s prime defender of the rights of Black people, immigrant laborers, and people in distant lands occupied by the US.
Harlan’s dissents, particularly in Plessy v. Ferguson, were widely read and a source of hope for decades. Thurgood Marshall called Harlan’s Plessy dissent his “Bible” - and his legal roadmap to overturning segregation. In the end, Harlan’s words built the foundations for the legal revolutions of the New Deal and Civil Rights eras.
Spanning from the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement and beyond, The Great Dissenter is a “magnificent” (Douglas Brinkley) and “thoroughly researched” (The New York Times) rendering of the American legal system’s most significant failures and most inspiring successes.
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Both historically and in the present, the Supreme Court has largely been a failure. In this devastating book, Erwin Chemerinsky—“one of the shining lights of legal academia” (The New York Times)—shows how, case by case, for over two centuries, the hallowed Court has been far more likely to uphold government abuses of power than to stop them.
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Splendid!
- By Butch on 05-19-23
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The Words That Made Us
- America's Constitutional Conversation, 1760-1840
- By: Akhil Reed Amar
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 27 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Words That Made Us, Akhil Reed Amar unites history and law in a vivid narrative of the biggest constitutional questions early Americans confronted, and he expertly assesses the answers they offered. His account of the document's origins and consolidation is a guide for anyone seeking to properly understand America's Constitution today.
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And the words that made Us
- By Anonymous User on 10-17-22
By: Akhil Reed Amar
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The Supermajority
- How the Supreme Court Divided America
- By: Michael Waldman
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean, Michael Waldman - introduction
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Supermajority, Michael Waldman explores the tumultuous 2021–2022 Supreme Court term. He draws deeply on history to examine other times the Court veered from the popular will, provoking controversy, and backlash. And he analyzes the most important new rulings and their implications for the law and for American society. Waldman asks: What can we do when the Supreme Court challenges the country?
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This should be a serialized media presentation, for the return of some normalization of the Supreme Court.
- By Elaine on 06-08-23
By: Michael Waldman
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John Marshall
- The Chief Justice Who Saved the Nation
- By: Harlow Giles Unger
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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A soul-stirring biography of John Marshall, the young Republic's great chief justice who led the Supreme Court to power and brought law and order to the nation. In the political turmoil that convulsed America after George Washington's death, the surviving Founding Fathers went mad - literally pummeling each other in Congress and challenging one another to deadly duels in their quest for power. Out of the political intrigue, one man emerged to restore calm and dignity to the government: John Marshall.
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the life and times of John Marshall
- By Michael Z. on 03-17-15
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Frederick Douglass
- Prophet of Freedom
- By: David W. Blight
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi
- Length: 36 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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As a young man, Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) escaped from slavery in Baltimore, Maryland. He was fortunate to have been taught to read by his slave owner mistress, and he would go on to become one of the major literary figures of his time. He wrote three versions of his autobiography over the course of his lifetime and published his own newspaper. His very existence gave the lie to slave owners: with dignity and great intelligence, he bore witness to the brutality of slavery.
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The sound of rollerskating in sand
- By Rico X Ludovici on 02-06-19
By: David W. Blight
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Differ We Must
- How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America
- By: Steve Inskeep
- Narrated by: Steve Inskeep
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1855, with the United States at odds over slavery, the lawyer Abraham Lincoln wrote a note to his best friend, the son of a Kentucky slaveowner. Lincoln rebuked his friend for failing to oppose slavery. But he added: “If for this you and I must differ, differ we must,” and said they would be friends forever. Throughout his life and political career, Lincoln often agreed to disagree. Democracy demanded it, since even an adversary had a vote.
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The excellent level of detail, both in the written and spoken language of Lincoln and his associates.
- By Amazon Customer on 01-23-24
By: Steve Inskeep
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The Originalism Trap
- How Extremists Stole the Constitution and How We the People Can Take It Back
- By: Madiba K. Dennie
- Narrated by: Madiba K. Dennie
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Lawyers don’t often admit this in mixed company, but Madiba Dennie wants to let you in on a secret: There's no one true way to interpret the Constitution. Americans saw just how subjective it can be when the Supreme Court denied basic bodily autonomy to millions of people in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, suggesting that our rights and liberties are frozen in a cherry-picked version of history. This is a line of constitutional interpretation called originalism—a framework that says we must be constrained by the meaning of the Constitution's text when it was written.
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A ray of hope in a bleak time
- By Emily S. Lakdawalla on 09-20-24
By: Madiba K. Dennie
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Reading the Constitution
- Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism
- By: Stephen Breyer
- Narrated by: Stephen Breyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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The relatively new judicial philosophy of textualism dominates the Supreme Court. Textualists claim that the right way to interpret the Constitution and statutes is to read the text carefully and examine the language as it was understood at the time the documents were written. This, however, is not Justice Breyer’s philosophy nor has it been the traditional way to interpret the Constitution since the time of Chief Justice John Marshall. Justice Breyer recalls Marshall’s exhortation that the Constitution must be a workable set of principles to be interpreted by subsequent generations.
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Very Annoying Narration
- By Minnie I. on 04-21-24
By: Stephen Breyer
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Worse than Nothing
- The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism
- By: Erwin Chemerinsky
- Narrated by: Daniel Henning
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Originalism, the view that the meaning of a constitutional provision is fixed when it is adopted, was once the fringe theory of a few extremely conservative legal scholars but is now a well-accepted mode of constitutional interpretation. Noted legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky gives a comprehensive analysis of the problems that make originalism unworkable as a method of constitutional interpretation. He argues that the framers themselves never intended constitutional interpretation to be inflexible and shows how it is often impossible to know the "original intent" of any provision.
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Impeccably Logical, Backed by 100 Specific Example
- By Amy Eaton on 03-17-23
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God Against the Gods
- The History of Monotheism and Polytheism
- By: Robert Garland, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Robert Garland
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Original Recording
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Religion is foundational to what it means to be human. Our quest for meaning is as ancient as our very existence, stretching back to a time when Neanderthal burials and Paleolithic figurines suggest our ancestors recognized a power that transcended visible reality. From ancient civilizations to the 21st century, belief in a higher power seems to be a universal human instinct. These 12 thought-provoking lectures introduce you to the world of comparative religion, giving you insights into a variety of religious expressions and human cultures.
By: Robert Garland, and others
What listeners say about The Great Dissenter
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- redfox
- 05-16-24
Book not as great as its subject
Was a bit all over the place, in part because of the decision to profile Robert Harlan in parallel. That the Justice had personal experience with the lives and merits of educated Blacks is relevant to his defense of civil rights, but it meant a lot of familial byways and anecdotes pretty far afield. Still, a nice mix of history, legal history, and personal story of an important figure.
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- TomDuncombe
- 11-16-21
best book I've heard on audible
the right book at the right time. read by a narrator who knows how to pronounce everyone's name.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-27-21
Heart for humanity and respect for the constitution
I did not know of Supreme Justice John Marshall. I also did not know his impact upon our country’s major legal decisions. It speaks loudly that he is revered by both conservative and liberal Supreme Court Justices. His history and Robert James Harlan’s life are compelling stories of the impact of race after the Civil War. I recommend this book to anyone seeking to understand our US history from the Civil War period to today.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jean
- 07-27-22
Fantastic
I found this biography fascinating. The book is about John Marshall Harlan (1833-1911). Harlan is remembered for three outstanding dissents in the Court’s most disconcerting rulings. He is the lone dissenting vote (8-1) in Plessy V Ferguson in 1896. This is “the separate but equal” doctrine.
I found the sections of the Court battles about income tax and labor laws most interesting and in many ways the arguments have not changed. Particularly the reasons the rich gave for why the rent payments they received should not be taxed or why government had no right to tell them to limit employee’s hours to no more than twelve hours per day. I found it most helpful to pause and see where the Court has been before in controversial discissions.
The author, Peter Canellos, did an excellent job researching information for this book and presenting a fairly unbiased report. If you are looking for a great biography to read this summer, try this book.
The book is nineteen hours and twenty-three minutes. Arthur Morey does a good job narrating the book.
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2 people found this helpful
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- BRead
- 03-08-22
A story that needs to be heard.
Well written. Well narrated. It is a story of how people can change for the better and for worse. It is also a story that exemplifies why it is worth it to choose the right path even when it is against the tide and the full impact is not immediately known.
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- Big Law
- 07-21-22
Brilliant, wonderful book
I cannot praise this book enough. Wonderfully written and told story about a giant in American history. In a world with a history absent segregation, Harlan would be even more well known today. I’m grateful to Mr. Canellos for telling Harlan’s story. Also appreciative to Arthur Morey for his outstanding performance. I highly recommend this book for all those interested in American history.
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- Thomas Shanklin
- 10-05-21
Pleasantly surprised.
I truly enjoyed this book. Senate minority leader recommended it on Book TV. I highly recommend this book.
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2 people found this helpful
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- John K.
- 09-17-21
Magnificent Biography
Every American should read this man’s story. His courage and prescience will stand testament against the revisionists who portray our sad and tumultuous history as purely a chronicle of racism. Justice Harlan turned the tide of American history toward a colorblind society that most strive to achieve. God Bless him!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-01-21
An eye opening experience
Justice Harlan was unknown to me before listening to this book.
He was an individualist, certainly the great dissenter and as proven by much later decisions of the highest court in our land shown to be not only right on his decisions but many many years ahead of his time.
I think you will learn much and enjoy the journey by listening to this book.
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- Patrick Keegan
- 11-02-21
Very enjoyable and enlightening
Great story of an American hero unknown to many. This story would make a good movie.
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1 person found this helpful