Property rights, human rights, and American jurisprudence: The rejection of John J. Parker's nomination to the Supreme court

Abstract

This essay explores the constitutive and ideological power of the Supreme Court nomination process. It maintains that this process has evolved in the twentieth century into a rhetorical ritual whereby the American community publicly enacts and configures collective commitments to civil liberties, the law, and constitutional democracy. As such, the ideological power of the Supreme Court nomination process is manifest in the rhetorical negotiation and debate concerning nominees and their placement within the symbolically constructed scope of acceptable judicial philosophy. Specifically, this essay examines the power of the debates concerning Herbert Hoovers nomination of John J. Parker to the Supreme Court in 1930 to constrict the symbolic influence of “property rights” and to expand the importance of “human rights” as specific commitments definitive of American jurisprudence.