Martin (Marty) Redish, a senior counsel in Crowell & Moring’s Chicago office and the Louis and Harriet Ancel Professor of Law and Public Policy at Northwestern University School of Law, has published a new book that provides a revolutionary view of the constitutional guarantee of due process.
In Due Process as American Democracy, Redish develops a new approach to procedural due process, grounded in foundational precepts of American political theory. Redish argues that American political thought comes from an adversarial understanding of democracy where individuals need to protect their own interests, because no one else can be trusted to do so.
Redish writes that a skeptical vision of democracy informs the separation of powers and operates as the protector of liberal democracy. When applied to procedural due process, adversary democracy dictates skepticism of both judges and those who seek unilaterally to represent the individuals’ interests in court. The end result is a demand for strong protections of judicial neutrality and independence far beyond what is presently required and imposition of serious restrictions on the ability of courts to appoint others to protect individuals’ legally protected interests. The book applies these underlying democratic premises to areas of modern civil procedure and constitutional law, urging dramatic alterations in both.
In a review of the book, Richard Freer, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law, Emory University, states, “Procedural due process (PDP) is one of the most invoked and least understood concepts in American law. In this pathbreaking book, Professor Redish views PDP as an outgrowth of “liberal adversary democracy,” rooted in mistrust of those who wield power. He uses this lens to illuminate problematic doctrine in civil procedure, administrative law, and constitutional law. Only a scholar of Redish’s breadth and depth could write this sweeping and important book. It is a capstone achievement by one of America’s preeminent constitutional theorists.”
Outside of Crowell, Redish is the Louis and Harriet Ancel Professor of Law and Public Policy at Northwestern University School of Law, where he has taught since 1973, along with visiting professorships at Stanford University Law School, Cornell University Law School, and University of Michigan Law School.
Redish’s seminal 1971 article, “The First Amendment in the Marketplace: Commercial Speech and the Values of Free Expression,” laid the groundwork for commercial actors and advertisements to receive free speech protections. In addition to being cited in 22 Supreme court opinions, Redish has appeared as an expert witness before Congress on numerous occasions. He is the author of 18 books, from legal textbooks to applications of political theory, and is the author or co-author of more than 100 academic articles.
The book is published by Oxford University Press. More information on the book can be found here.
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