Customer Reviews

Decision: How the Supreme Court Decides Cases (Oxford Paperbacks)

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I was greatly disappointed with the book. Schwartz didn't pay attention to who his audience is: we are not a general reading public but rather one with an interest in, and some level of sophistication of, the US Supreme Court. In other words, we expect sourcing and citing of ideas. With too many "a case did this" and "a book says that" without the sourcing, I gave up. Moreover, it was pretty clear that the stalwarts of the Warren Court: Warren, Black, Brennan could do no wrong. Although it may be semi-true for the latter two, Warren was a glad-handing arm-twisting politician who's most famous opinion (Brown) was as dull as dish water to read. But its easier to pick on Rehnquist because he couldn't convince a majority to follow him on one single issue -- albeit an important issue. Yes, that's the learned perspective we get from this book. Ultimately, I can see the general media wanting to read this book to help "educate" them, but as for political scientists, law professors, legal journalists and the like there is little value to this book other than that Schwartz had access to private communications of some of the Justices, but we know not whom and know not when he uses it (and whether he uses it correctly).