Customer Reviews

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court

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The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin is a better than candid look at more than the SUPREME COURT but a startling look at its Justices of the Supreme Court. From Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas the master mind behind the Bush(1) dismantling of Affirmative Action ,the greatest piece of legislative ACT OF CONGRESS SINCE RECONSTRUCTION, to the death of William Rhinquist..The interesting comment made by Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall,when ask what BLACK did he think the Bush (1)Administration would appoint to the Supreme Court. And Marshall replied,"Whether it's A BLACK SNAKE or WHITE SNAKE they are still a SNAKE and any SNAKE will BITE"...This book is a must READ...Purchased from AMAZON.COM
William O.

Interest reading. Fine inside view of the personalities of the justices and the workings that are not common knowlege. Some surprises that demonstrate that the justices are human and have their own strong prejudices.
In most instances the rule based on what they truly believe is the right decisions for the couontry.

This book was a curious combination of fact and opinion. It was refreshing that there was no attempt to hide the fact that the writer has a clearly Progressive and Liberal view of what the Supreme Court should be about. When opinion and point of view is so clearly evident, you can appreciate the facts and information presented and evaluate the "right" or "wrong" of what is presented for yourself. Much of what Mr. Toobin presented could not have been known by most of us without his well researched and written book. I would recommend it to anyone interested in SCOTUS.

Very readable, somewhat frothy account of personalities of recent SCt members. There is the odd minor factual error, such as "cell phones didn't exist in 1993," which simply impede the flow. And there are larger errors, if one is of a strict bent of mind about ethics -- the author says Scalia is a very principled jurist when, in fact, he committed an impeachable offense by going hunting with a corporate executive whose corporation was in litigation already calendared to appear before the court. It was said Scalia should recuse himself, but he did not. If "principled" was intend to apply to Scalia's legal opinions, then one might wonder if the author had read any.

If what you want is gossip page reading, this is a wonderful book. If you are looking for insight into the ways in which ideology continues to take precedence over the intent of the founders, the constitution and legal precedent, most often in the opinions of the activist right (now with four members on the court), this isn't the book you want.

Nine was very educational and gave insight to many of our Supreme Court Justices and many of the cases they presided over. I just wish I had a legal backround, but it was great either way.