1. Three-Volume Compendium of Advocacy Before the United States Supreme Court – Coming in mid-2025
Visit the three-volume website (click here)
This ACLU Three-volume Compendium contains 1 ½-page summaries of each of the ACLU’s 1,193 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court in the Union’s first 100 years, from 1920 to 2020. The set will be published by June 2025.
IMAGES: Image left is the working draft; Image right is what the final books will be like, high-quality printing with gold lettering.
- Conceived and Compiled by Steven C. Markoff
- Foreword by Erwin Chemerinsky
- Case Summary Editor Jessica Pierucci, J.D., M.L.I.S.
No one, not even the ACLU, has this compendium of 1,193 ACLU cases before the Supreme Court the ACLU was involved in during 94 of its first 100 years.
The Three-volume compendium includes a Foreword by Erwin Chemerinsky (Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law), Ira Glasser’s (ACLU National Executive Director from 1978 – 2001) 1982 draft one-pager on what the ACLU does, data on how each Supreme Court Justice voted on each case, and the Win / Loss record (the batting average) of the ACLU at the Supreme Court for those 10 decades.
To be published by Rare Bird Lit, Los Angeles, in the first half of 2025.
2. Misfire: The Supreme Court, The Second Amendment, Our Right to Bear Arms
(Click here to buy on Amazon.com – BN.com – Rare Bird)
Author Steven Markoff has had an interest in guns and the law since his teens. Regarding the law, he focused for many years on the 5–4 (or the occasional 4–3) U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Steven wondered why there would be such a split vote.
Given that all the justices are said to be accomplished attorneys, and that they all have presumably read and heard the same facts and law of a case, why did their conclusions differ? Steven thought, in theory, it should be so simple. The justices should just read the law, absorb the facts, listen to the oral arguments, and make the right decision.
That, of course, isn’t life, given laws and facts are often imprecise, if not in dispute, and that humans, with all our differences, are involved in the analysis and voting.
When Steven read the 5–4 2008 Heller decision (District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570), he didn’t understand how the evidence presented in the Court’s Opinion supported its finding that there was an individual right to arms in the home in the Second Amendment.
After discussing the case with his friend, a federal judge, the judge challenged Steven, a layman, to dig into the Heller Opinion and see what his concerns were with it.
Steven accepted that challenge and, after digging into the Heller Opinion and Colonial and founding-era American documents for nine years, produced Misfire: The Supreme Court, The Second Amendment, Our Right to Bear Arms. The book is only 120 pages, accompanied by 340 pages of appendices. Those appendices include original texts of Colonial and founding-era documents, brief summaries of over 1,000 Colonial and founding-era arms and related laws, and a listing of the Heller amici, including a brief penned by three linguists.
Published by Rare Bird Lit, Los Angeles
Some reviews of Misfire:
Darren G. Smith, attorney – “Misfire is a compelling read and includes an interesting amicus brief filed by linguists. This is a book that should be on every Justice’s desk when the next gun case comes around.”
California State Assemblyman Mike Gatto (ret.) – “‘Misfire’ is an exhaustive examination of the historical sources contemporaneous with the Second Amendment’s passage. No matter how much you think you know about the Second Amendment, you’re guaranteed to learn something from this well-researched book.”
Robert V. Madden, attorney at law – “In ‘Misfire,’ Steven Markoff and his research team take the reader on a fascinating in-depth journey through a mosaic of colonial laws and regulations in order to construct the true underlying historical foundation upon which the 2nd Amendment was birthed and then apply and contrast this milieu with that espoused in Heller–all with surprising results.”
Pierce O’Donnell, Author of In Time of War: Hitler’s Terrorist Attack on America – “Misfire is an impressive, path-breaking feat of original historical research about colonial America’s legal treatment of firearms regulation leading up to the adoption of the Second Amendment in 1791. Historian Steve Markoff has rendered a genuine public service by meticulously collecting and deftly analyzing the record in the 13 colonies, demonstrating the utter lack of any evidence for the personal right of individuals to firearms. … Misfire offers a timely opportunity for the Justice’s to revisit Heller.”
James Bryan, Esq. – “The book is a thought-provoking critique of the Second Amendment, particularly analyzing the 2008 Heller decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. Markoff challenges the decision’s foundation, arguing that it diverges significantly from historical context and documentation. … the book’s subject is highly relevant. Markoff provides a fresh perspective on a well-trodden topic, which is valuable for readers seeking a deeper understanding of the Second Amendment.”
Trina Madison, lawyer – “The main thesis of the book, that historical evidence provides no basis for an individual right to firearms, is proven by the arguments and historical documents that you explore in the book.”
Joe Ranvestel, civil rights attorney; former public defender – “I think the book was, overall, well written. I was surprised at the thorough, technical research that went into this, referencing early writings I was wholly unaware of, and documents I was otherwise not this familiar with as applied to firearms/the 2nd Amendment.”
3. HANDBOOK– The First 100 Years Of The ACLU: A Compendium Of Advocacy Before The United States Supreme Court
This Handbook became available January 2023. It received a Los Angeles Book Festival runner up award in the Wildcard Category in April 2024.
Visit the book’s website (click here)
The sole difference between the handbook and the three-volume set is that the handbook contains only three of the 1,193 cases in the three-volume set.
– Conceived and Compiled by Steven C. Markoff
– Foreword by Erwin Chemerinsky
– Case Summary Editor Jessica Pierucci, J.D., M.L.I.S.
No one, not even the ACLU, has this compendium of 1,193 ACLU cases before the Supreme Court the ACLU was involved in during 94 of its first 100 years.
2024 Los Angeles Book Festival Winner – Wildcard Runner Up
Published by Rare Bird Lit, Los Angeles
4. The Case Against George W. Bush
Mr. Markoff’s first book, became available November 2020.
Visit the book’s website (click here)
The book received a Best of Los Angeles Award for “Best Political Book – 2020.”
Order a copy (or copies) of the book today.
To order, simply click on any of the following links:
Rare Bird (for signed copies)
Published by Rare Bird Lit, Los Angeles