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Toobin is at heart and foremost a lawyer. The writings on Justice David Souter are a pleasant surprise, as are the pages on Justice Stephen Breyer. Douglas. Plus, The Brethren has the good fortune of covering such giants of the law as Hugo Black, Earl Warren, Thurgood Marshall, William Brennan and William O. Jeffrey Toobin's book is a worthy successor to the classic and still relevant Bob Woodward / Scott Armstrong look at the inner workings of the Supreme Court - The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court. As Toobin says in the video on this page "You've got to love a guy like that." Agreed. The rest fall somewhere in between that spectrum. As Toobin points out, it was the Rehnquist Court in name only; in practice, it was the O'Connor Court.We learn the least about Justice Stevens (it's clear Stevens did not cooperate with the book), the most about O'Connor.
The humor is that they look nothing like each other. His insight into the personalities, motivations and daily workings of the nine justices is superb, most notably on Sandra Day O'Connor. Woodward and Armstrong had the angle of being pure journalists and - for the layperson - have the more readable book. There's a delightful story that Toobin tells (that could only of come directly from Souter) that centers on the confusion the public has between these two, often mixing them up. For non-lawyers, his discourses into the meaning and significance of some of the opinions can be a grind. Toobin's respect for Justice O'Connor is manifestly evident - he marvels at her skill in placing herself at the political center of mainstream America in case after case. The punchline of the story reveals an impish, sly Souter unlike his dour, ascetic image. He will be missed.
Engaging and entertaining, hard to put down, "The Nine" is a must read to understand recent events surrounding the current selection of another Supreme Court Justice. Tobin is fair minded in his personal touches about proclivities of his real life characters while weaving the magnitude of their decisions into the fabric of American History. News reports about Supreme Court activity will never look the same again.
2.5 stars. I can live with that but the treatment of the Court and the Justices just seemed kind of superficial and "tabloid-ish." It was more like reading People Magazine than a serious book about the Court. This is a pretty average treatment of the Supreme Court. It's mildly entertaining but obviously biased. I was left with the feeling that the book cheapens its subject and, as someone who has a great deal on interest in, and respect for, both the Court and the law, I found that distasteful.Still, it was good to get some background on the more recently-appointed Justices. Not terrible but not recommended.
This book might be a good read for law students on summer break with nothing else to do, but what I expected would be a behind-the-scenes look into the personal and professional dynamics of the Supreme Court members, their little known traditions, personalities and secret deliberations was non existent. The cover of Mr. Toobin's book proclaims loudly "Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court", but what the reader receives in page after dull, dry page is a rehash of cases the court has heard since the 1950s. Instead, you get page after page after page of what seems like the author attempting page filler to meet the publisher's word count requirement. I have to say, my disappointment in this author started with another of his books and I'm afraid I'll no longer pick up another book of his again.
It is true that the President nominates individuals to the Supreme Court, but these nominees must be confirmed by the Senate. The stories and tidbits from interviews with the Justices and their clerks provides immeasurable insights into the lives and colorful personalities of the Justices. The author even provides examples of judicial nominees who were not confirmed by the Senate, thus undermining his own argument. However, I was sorely disappointed when I discovered the author's thesis. Namely that the Supreme Court Justices' political leanings determine their votes and opinions and therefore, "that one factor--and one factor only-- will determine the future of the Supreme Court: the outcomes of presidential elections." That's a little too extreme for me. He also speaks at length about Justice Souter who was nominated by G.W. Bush and how Justice Souter was a huge disappointment to the Republican party.On a positive note, I am glad that I picked up the book when I did, with Judge Sotomayor's confirmation looming.
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