Brandeis and the Progressive Constitution Erie, the Judical Power and the Politics of the Federal Courts in Twentieth-century America Edward A. Purcell

This book examines both the constitutional jurisprudence of Supreme Court justice Louis D. Brandeis and one of his most famous and controversial opinions, Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins (1938). This landmark decision led to a significant relocation of power from federal to state courts, and, says the author, it provides a window on the legal, political, and ideological battles over the federal courts in the New Deal era and after.

Edward A. Purcell, Jr., is professor of law at New York Law School. He is the author of Litigation and Inequality and The Crisis of Democratic Theory, for which he received the Frederick Jackson Turner Prize.

"Purcell treats Erie with a rigor and depth approached by no other historical account. This book is destined to occupy an important place in the constitutional-historical literature." Clyde Spillenger, UCLA School of Law