ABSTRACT
Much of the inspiration for judicial review in America may have been the landmark case, but the practice certainly has not turned out to be exceptional. The growth of judicial power since 1937 demonstrates that the descent of high constitutional judgment to prosaic coercion occurs in two basic ways. The horizontal spread of the definition of individual rights means, of course, that an increasing array of issues is subject to the Supreme Court's oversight and thus becomes the subject matter of its opinions. These issues include highly personal and sensitive matters that in the United States were once debated and decided at the state and local level. While constitutional doctrines come in many variations, they allow for the invalidation of legislation on the basis of two essential claims: that the public purpose behind the statute is not sufficiently important, or that the means chosen are not closely enough related to the purpose.
