PrincetonUniversity
 

Christoper Eisgruber, a 1983 Princeton graduate, returned to the University in 2001 to lead the Program in Law and Public Affairs.

photo: Denise Applewhite

Eisgruber courts stronger ties between Princeton and the law

by Eric Quiñones
Even with no students in the room, Christopher Eisgruber can deliver a lively lecture on a 200-year-old topic.

In the videotaped introduction to this fall's Alumni Studies course on the Supreme Court, Eisgruber detailed the 1803 case of Marbury v. Madison, which established the court's power to decide whether laws uphold the Constitution. This seminal moment in American history, Eisgruber told the lone camera operator acting as his audience, was actually the result of a power play between two founding fathers, John Adams and his successor as president, Thomas Jefferson.

Piecing together the political maneuverings that led to the case, Eisgruber described Adams' scheme to pack the court system with Federalist Party judges before leaving the White House. He also recounted Jefferson's vow to defy the Supreme Court if Chief Justice John Marshall, an Adams appointee, blatantly ruled in favor of his own party.

"By modern standards, this is really wild stuff," he said.

Examining the relationships between politics and the law -- in landmark cases two centuries old and in current decisions on volatile issues such as affirmative action and gay rights -- is a challenge that Eisgruber relishes in his role as an influential constitutional scholar and director of Princeton's Program in Law and Public Affairs. The 1983 Princeton graduate is dedicated to strengthening law-related teaching at his alma mater, which has no law school, to provide a grounding for students no matter what career path they choose.

The full story is available in the Weekly Bulletin.