Savage, a Supreme Court reporter for the Los Angeles Times, examines the effects of US Supreme Court decisions on the rights and freedoms of the individual. He documents the Court's emergence as a defender of individual rights and liberties, including recent cases through the 2007-2008 term relating to handguns, the death penalty, and the rights of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, for instance. He also discusses the First Amendment; equal vote and political association; due process and criminal rights; the guarantees of a fair trial and legal counsel; protections against unreasonable search and seizure, self-incrimination, and cruel and unusual punishment; equal rights and protection, including racial and sexual equality; and personal liberties and privacy rights. The chapter on Second Amendment rights is new to this edition. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)