Controversial Books | Page 619

Conclusion 597 that were once considered to be within the exclusive domain of the State judiciaries. Both Federal and State courts are immensely overburdened by their case loads, principally because they have more laws to interpret. More judges are also willing to take cases that augment the judicial power. Months, often years, go by before cases are settled; and truly justice delayed is justice denied. Americans, it is feared, have become a litigious people, always filing lawsuits—many of them seeking to extract material advantages from wealthy individuals and corporations. Judges are made arrogant by the power that they have themselves amassed or has been thrust into their hands by legislatures. Some, instead of exercising self-restraint and confining their duties to the interpretation of the law, stretch the meaning of words in order to reach desired results, becoming law- and policy-makers. And jurisprudence—the philosophy and history of law—is neglected