Courts, Liberalism, and Rights: Gay Law and Politics in the United States and Canada. By Jason Pierceson. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2005. 264p. $68.50 cloth, $22.95 paper.

The Case for Gay Rights: From Bowers to Lawrence and Beyond. By David A. J. Richards. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2005. 256p. $29.95.

If one assesses the maturity, as well as legitimacy, of a field of study through the scholarship that it produces, these two excellent books—one by an established scholar (David A. J. Richards) and the other by a relative newcomer (Jason Pierceson)—show just how far gay rights, as a field of scholarly inquiry, has come in the last few decades. Both books provide compelling arguments on behalf of the view that liberal political theory, when coupled with vigorous judicial review, can provide previously marginalized groups, like sexual minorities, with meaningful rights of equality and autonomy.