The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court | Jeffrey Toobin

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court | Jeffrey Toobin | Tremendous Insight

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The Nine: Inside t...

	The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court Jeffrey Toobin Anchor, 2008 - 480 pages average customer review:based on 155 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

In The Nine, acclaimed journalist Jeffrey Toobin takes us into the chambers of the most important?and secret?legal body in our country, the Supreme Court, revealing the complex dynamic among the nine people who decide the law of the land. An institution at a moment of transition, the Court now stands at a crucial point, with major changes in store on such issues as abortion, civil rights, and church-state relations. Based on exclusive interviews with the justices and with a keen sense of the Court?s history and the trajectory of its future, Jeffrey Toobin creates in The Nine a riveting story of one of the most important forces in American life today.

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Well written story of fascinating people

Of the three branches of government, far less is known about the inner-workings of the judiciary-and most specifically the Supreme Court-than the other two branches. Much of this is due to traditions that have developed over the years, but much is innate in the supposedly impartial, non-partisan and independent nature of the judiciary as envisioned by our founding fathers.

Jeffrey Toobin, CNN legal analyst and prize-winning author, has written an insightful, balanced and extremely readable "tell-all" on the modern Supreme Court, based largely upon thousands of interviews with past and present Supreme Court clerks. But this "tell-all" is not of the scandalous, scurrilous and titillating variety that has become derigueur of modern political reporting. This instead is a fascinating tale of the major political and historical events of the past 20 years as seen with the additional insight of its impact by and upon the Supreme Court and its justices.

With the possible exceptions of Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, the Supreme Court has been seen as largely anonymous individuals making occasionally significant decisions. Toobin not only gives a brief biography of each justice, but he also provides vital information that gives us insight into the background, personality and legal philosophy of these highly disparate individuals.

Toobin, although discussing sometimes complex legal arguments, is always able to examine the topic in such a manner that a layman can understand. This is true whether he is discussing the complexities of Roe v. Wade, affirmative action, Gore v. Bush (the 2000 presidential election), Guantanamo or gun control. The author spends considerable time discussing the important role of Sandra Day O'Connor and later Anthony Kennedy as the swing vote on the Supreme Court. All of these issues and more are described with their overlaying political and legal justifications and ramifications.

What we end up with is a fascinating story of people who can be alternately egotistical and compassionate, prejudiced and sympathetic, inflexible and caring-that is, undeniably human.

Toobin leaves us with the critical dilemma of choosing the next President that will most assuredly determine many closely called social and political decisions for generations to come.

Armchair Interviews says: Toobin gives us a clear picture of the Supreme Court and Judicial Branch.

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Tremendous Insight

The Supreme Court is a fascinating subject to me - everything from Time discussing Roberts and how the current court is working, to the interview with Scalia on 60 Minutes and I loved this book.

The discussions of some of the major cases and interaction amongst the justices brings these things to life.

Though you may agree or disagree with some of the justices opinions, or how they look at the law, it is worthwhile to see more about the individuals behind the decsions. To find out Scalia and Ginsburg are friends (which was also in the 60 Minutes Interview) is eye-opening and adds an extra dimension to the people who may in fact be the most powerful people in the country.

Well written and well worth it.

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a remarkable Nine

Toobin's book covers the history of the US Supreme Court from the summer of 1991 through the spring of 2007. Throughout his work, he provides biographical information of the Nine (Rehnquist, Stevens, O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, Ginsburg, Breyer), plus the most recent two (Roberts & Alito). Toobin interviewed all 11 justices, as well as a number of former law clerks, journalists and numerous others involved in the courts and politics. The two major themes that run throughout the 340 pages are (1) the push and pull between the conservatives and the liberals on the court and (2) the evolution of the jurisprudence of a number of the justices (especially O'Connor and Kennedy).

After a stinging defeat in Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (a Pennsylvania law which attempted to restrict abortions) in 1985, the Reagan Administration and conservatives had an epiphany: "they didn't need better arguments; they just needed new justices" (17).

Christian conservatives began to increase their power within the GOP in the 1980's (led by men like James Dobson, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson). By 1990, their stated goals included the following: "Reverse Roe. Expand executive power. Speed executions. Welcome religion into the public sphere. Return the Constitution from its exile since the New Deal" (272).

Clarence Thomas was nominated to replace Thurgood Marshall during the summer of 1991. Even though George H.W. Bush and Thomas expressed their opposition to affirmative action, Thomas clearly was the beneficiary of it. Marshall's negative view of Thomas is captured vividly in chapter 2, as is the battle between Anita Hill and Thomas during his confirmation hearings in October, 1991.

Rehnquist ran the court very differently than Burger. This is how he ran the court's conferences: (1) he would summarize the case and state his position; (2) justices would do the same in order of seniority; (3) no one spoke twice until everyone spoke once; (4) no one received a writing assignment until he/she had finished the previous one; (5) every justice had an assignment before someone was given a second; and (6) the senior justice on the majority gave the assignment, as did the senior justice on the minority.

Despite being a popular and efficient Chief Justice, even Rehnquist knew that the court truly belonged to Sandra Day O'Connor. In the 1992 abortion case Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Robert P. Casey, O'Connor wrote that state restrictions on abortion procedures could be upheld as long as they don't cause an undue burden. Her term of "undue burden" would redefine Roe and helped guarantee women's autonomy and health (58-59).

Toobin devotes over 40 pages to Bush v. Gore and the problems with the votes in Florida. The roles of the Florida legislature, the Florida Supreme Court and the Supreme Court (all three appeared to be biased) are detailed and contrasted against each other.

We learn about Stephen Breyer's increasing influence on the court (128) and Anthony Kennedy's movement to the left based on his contact with judges and legal scholars from around the world (182). Kennedy gave the majority opinion in the Lawrence vs. Texas (2003) case, which struck down laws that seek to inhibit homosexual relations between two consenting adults within their home (189-190).

The Michigan Cases in 2003 about race and admissions in college and law school are described in chapters 16 and 17. The court's ruling against the Bush administration about Gitmo is dealt with in chapters 18 and 19.

Part Four of the book focuses on the nominations of Roberts and Alito. Special attention is devoted to the savaging of Alberto Gonzalez (who was only rumored to be a potential nominee) and Harriet Miers (who was nominated in the summer of 2005) by Christian Conservatives, who believed that neither Gonzalez nor Miers were ideologically strong enough to merit a seat on the court (it is eerily reminiscent of some scenes from 1984).

The book finishes with Breyer's role in two religious cases in 2005
(regarding public displays of religious works in government buildings) and Ginsburg's scathing dissent (a rarity) regarding the 2007 Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (the ruling stated that a woman must file within 180 days of being discriminated against in the workplace in regards to pay - Ginsburg stated that it might be years before a woman realized that she had been the victim of an unfair system).

It is an exceptionally well-written book and a joy to read.

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A masterpiece , a must read for every american

this is one of the best bookd that I have ever read in my life. it was elegant, detailed and very moving.
Toobin portrayed each judges as fair as you can be.
I agree with all the positive comments sofar.
this is a must read for every student in colleges and law schools, and probably for every american who loves and cares about this country

Interesting History

I found this book very enlightening. Prior to reading this book, I never really followed in detail the movements and history of the Supreme Court. I am not a lawyer but found the book fairly easy to follow and found the politics behind the members surprisingly interesting.

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