The unpublished opinions of the Burger Court /

A successor companion volume to Schwartz's The Unpublished Opinions of the Warren Court (CH, Mar '86); it also presents invaluable fragments of information about the workings of the Supreme Court of the US. Drawing again on his access to the draft opinions and other working papers of at least one unidentified justice, together with interview-derived information, the author offers a fascinating and instructive look at the decision-making practices of the Supreme Court: at its internal divisions, at the truly collegial nature of opinion-formation, and, in this volume, at graphic illustration of the failed leadership of Chief Justice Burger as against the powers of Justices Brennan, Blackmun, Powell, and (occasionally) Stevens and White. All students of the Court, of the judicial process, and of recent constitutional history are in Schwartz's debt for these presentations. However, he does not tell us whether the ten opinions he offers are indeed "the {{sole}} unpublished opinions of the Burger Court" or only a sample of such opinions. Nor is his own narrative commentary marked by perspicacity and acuity. Still, this is grist for the scholarly mill and, as such, valuable. Highly recommended for college and university libraries. -L. Weinstein, Smith College