MEDIA CONTACT:

Clarice Z. Smith,
Press Officer,
Manhattan Institute, 212-599-7000, Ext. 318

Listen to Ross Sandler & David Schoenbrod discuss Democracy by Decree with Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Recorded on 1-15-03.

Manhattan Institute Book Catalog.

TALKING POINTS FOR RADIO AND TV

GUEST SUGGESTION:
Contact: Clarice Z. Smith
Press Officer,
Manhattan Institute, 212-599-7000, Ext. 318
csmith@manhattan-institute.org

Ross Sandler & David Schoenbrod, authors of

Democracy by Decree: What Happens When Courts Run Government (Yale University Press, 2003)

As publicity efforts for Democracy by Decree continue, please consider the following  "talking points" for any radio, television and print interviews involving the authors Ross Sandler and David Schoenbrod.

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Institutional reform litigation promises to protect the powerless by making politicians cede some of their power to apolitical judges and public interest lawyers.  In reality, people suffer when litigation denies local and state officials the flexibility to change outdated and impractical policies.

  • Through judicial decrees, courts have increasingly supplanted governors and mayors in running many important state and local services such as special education, welfare and foster care.
  • Despite the conventional wisdom that decrees put the judge in charge of government agencies, judges usually turn over operative control of the mandates to a group composed of plaintiffs’ attorneys, court-appointed functionaries and unelected officials.
  • This “controlling group” often acts in secrecy and directs the programs outside democratically accountable channels of government. The decrees written and administered by the controlling group are highly detailed and often stay in force for decades.
  • Since decrees are notoriously difficult to modify, agency managers can’t adapt to changing circumstances and the quality of public services declines.

In Democracy by Decree by Ross Sandler and David Schoenbrod explain how the controlling groups took charge and show how judges can protect individual rights without letting control groups supplant democratically accountable government. Their proposals focus on:

  • Methods to limit court decrees to correcting violations.
  • Granting wide latitude to officials working in good faith to meet legal obligations.
  • Allowing officials to modify decrees when they have a good reason to do so.
  • Term limits on judges supervising decrees.
  • Term limits on decrees unless plaintiffs can show that the violations of law persist.

Democracy by Decree urges us to re-evaluate our blind faith in courts, judges, and lawyers to cure social problems without democratic accountability. Until we face the reality of the system we’ve created, real solutions will evade courts and elected officials.

 

Democracy by Decree.

CRITIAL ACCLAIM FOR DEMOCRACY BY DECREE

“This is a fascinating book for someone like me who regretted agreeing to a court-approved consent decree limiting the city's authority in programs involving prisons, welfare, education, homeless shelters, etc. The authors discuss the topic in an interesting and clear manner making it a read well worth your time.”
—Ed Koch, former mayor,
New York City

 “A compelling story with a powerful argument backed by lots of fascinating stories about judicial shipwrecks.”
—James B. Jacobs,
New York University School of Law

“Democracy by Decree shows how courts can protect rights and still let mayors and governors do their job.”
—John Sexton,
president of New York University, and dean of NYU Law School

“An easy to read, insightful and scholarly explanation of how our country's government of the people became a government of the courts. Sandler and Schoenbrod offer a measured and practical prescription for restoring democracy while still honoring rights. This book will appeal to liberals and conservatives alike.”
—Lamar Alexander,
former governor of Tennessee

“Democracy by Decree is an impressive and thoughtful analysis of the current court-centered rights culture in which it is too easy for elected officials to ‘pass the buck’ to courts while taking actions that are blatantly unconstitutional.”
—Nadine Strossen,
President, American Civil Liberties Union and professor, New York Law School

“A brilliant, well-written and brave account of how federal courts have distorted our political system by taking control of complex institutions like schools and prisons-sometimes for decades-instead of enforcing rights, which is their proper domain.”
—Diane Ravitch,
New York University

“Democracy by Decree is a devastating indictment of how high-sounding legal mandates undermine the social goals they purport to guarantee. With fascinating blow-by-blow accounts, Sandler and Schoenbrod expose how advocates for one interest group inevitably undermine the interests of others and thwart the ability of those in responsibility to balance interests for the common good.”
—Philip K. Howard,
Author of The Death of Common Sense

“Sandler and Schoenbrod's account-really a discovery-of the existence of a second government in our midst is meticulous, nuanced, and alarming. By showing how unilateral judicial government undermines both democracy and individual rights, they have done a significant service to both.”
—Christopher DeMuth,
president, American
Enterprise Institute