By Jessica Schneider Oct 6, 2008, 14:34 GMT
Jeffrey Toobin’s latest is called The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court.
According to the Washington Post, the reviewer notes:
“Toobin does not give us a coherent framework for thinking about the court. He tends to applaud compromise, particularly when it yields middle-of-the road decisions that accord with public opinion, but he does not offer any explanation for why judges interpreting the Constitution should see compromise or public approval as their goal.
Nor does Toobin explain how this view of judging fits with acclaimed decisions such as Brown v. Board of Education, where the court stepped out in front of public opinion, or with abominable decisions, including cases from the McCarthy era, where the court condoned gross injustices while catering to popular opinion.
As a result, he sheds little light on how the public should evaluate the justices.”
Publishers Weekly states:
“The author deftly distills the issues and enlivens his narrative of the Court's internal wranglings with sharp thumbnail sketches (Anthony Kennedy the vain bloviator, David Souter the Thoreauvian ascetic) and editorials (inept and unsavory is his verdict on the Court's intervention in the 2000 election).
His savvy account puts the supposedly cloistered Court right in the thick of American life.”
Anchor is the publisher, and is available in paperback. You can read further reviews on Amazon.
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