Table of Contents

1) Introduction
2) The Politics of Judicial Retrenchment
3) Changing the Decisionmakers: From Litigation to Arbitration
4) Changing the Rules: The Battle to Control Civil Procedure
5) Changing the Venue: The Quasi-Judicial Realm of the Administrative State
6) Changing the Incentives: Leaving Rights and Removing Remedies
7) Conclusion

Promotional Information

Winner of the 2017 J. David Greenstone prize for the best book on history and politics

About the Author

Sarah Staszak is a Robert Wood Johnson Scholar in Health Policy Research at Harvard University and an Assistant Professor in Political Science at The City College of New York-CUNY.

Reviews

"No Day in Court explores one of the central, if largely unknown, legal developments in recent history: the increasing inability of individuals to go to court to vindicate their rights. Staszak shows how procedural and administrative rules have been purposefully rewritten to favor corporate and other defendants over the rights of prospective plaintiffs. An important and timely book."
--Jeffrey Toobin, author of The Oath and The Nine
"One of the most important stories about America's civil rights revolution has been the story of retrenchment-how rights guarantees have been systematically limited by procedural reforms that restrict judicial remedies. Sarah Staszak shows how both supporters and opponents of the rights revolution have been complicit in rationing and blocking access to the courts. If you want to understand what happened to the promise of civil rights in this country, read this
book."
--Jack M. Balkin, Yale Law School
"For the less advantaged, DeTocqueville's observation that in America every political issue becomes a judicial one may no longer be true. In a work of admirable breadth, Sarah Staszak shows that a congeries of organizations and movements have collaborated to reduce access to courts. After time well spent with Staszak's cogent argument, readers will never view alternative dispute resolution, administrative rulings, state sovereign immunity and attorney's fees
quite the same way."
--Daniel Carpenter, Harvard University
"A fascinating book that provides great insight into the politics of retrenchment. Staszak shows convincingly that scholars need to pay more careful attention to the hidden world of procedural rules that shape the capacities of judges to make policy. This is a highly original study that enriches understanding of how political processes shape the role of the courts."
--George Lovell, University of Washington
"No Day in Court is a major statement, and promises to open up a new area of scholarship. It is a book loaded with penetrating insights, elegant writing, and historical depth, and most importantly, provides powerful theoretical tools for understanding judicial retrenchment-a phenomenon that is a key part of American history but more than ever characterizes our present political environment."
--John D. Skrentny, University of California, San Diego
"Sarah Staszak shows in her recent book, No Day in Court, the Supreme Court has repeatedly closed off avenues for enforcing civil rights in recent years. But rather than attend to these incredibly consequential remedial decisions, journalists-and even many scholars-have generally focused on the Court's substantive decisions regarding the scope of civil and constitutional rights." ~ Professor Staszak's book thus helpfully shows that judicial liberalism
has changed over time."
--Samuel R. Bagenstos, University of Michigan Law School
"Given the substantial impact that judicial decisions have on public policy, making courts more (or less) accessible to political interests has important political consequences... No Day in Court shows how new restrictions on class action, broadened judicial deference to administrative agencies, and increased pressure to use arbitration and other forms of "alternative dispute resolution" have frustrated efforts to employ the courts to protect and enhance
rightsELStaszak makes an excellent case for the idea that restricting access to courts has inevitable political consequences."
--M. E. Ethridge, emeritus, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
"Sarah Staszak's thoughtful book powerfully makes the case that there is complex, multifaceted phenomenon of judicial retrenchment."
--Political Science Quarterly