Chipping at the core of justice: our law promises every litigant one bite at the apple. The Supreme Court, apparently conscious of Adam's fateful chomp, has been doing its best to keep civil rights claimants from getting theirs.

Trial, April, 2004 by Perkins, Jane; Vail, John

The Supreme Court has been limiting Americans' ability to seek remedies in court. In doing so, the Court has eroded important principles of the Constitution and of the common law that undergirds it.

Worse, the Court's jurisprudence has infected doctrine in the states. (1) Their own constitutions often give state courts broader jurisdiction, more robust powers, and a greater role in checking legislative power than federal courts have.

Recent Supreme Court decisions reflect a dangerous attitude: that legislative action deserves close judicial scrutiny when it expands remedies and great judicial deference when it contracts them, especially when claims against state actors are involved. These decisions are loosely tethered to constitutional text and...

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