Customer Reviews

Storming the Court: How a Band of Yale Law Students Sued the President--and Won

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a 3L about to graduate from law school and this book makes me want to shake off law firm salaries for the sake of making a change in this world. In less grandious terms, it makes me proud to be a future lawyer.

I saw Brandt Goldstein speak just before reading the book and he mentioned that he wrote the book to read like a legal thriller. I was not disappointed in this respect. He parallels the plight of the Haitians with the efforts of the law students. Politics, Legal Procedure, Trial strategy, and diplomacy are all addressed in an entertaining narrative. The cover gives away the ending but the value of this book lies in the way the author pulls the reader into full identification with amatuer lawyers. Although it is a must read for all lawyers, anyone would find enjoyment from this short read.

A great book. I am a law student and after three weeks of studying and taking finals the last thing I usually want to do is pick up a book, especially one having to do with law. But as soon as I picked this book up I was hooked and wound up finishing it the weekend after finals. Compelling and readable for those well-versed OR mystified by the law alike.

I would HIGHLY recommend this to all law students out there. When immersed in legal education it is easy to lose focus as to why and how you got there in the first place. The book and story is inspiring. In reading about students, professors, and hghly regarded attorneys helping those that sought their help and offering to those who simply NEEDED it, the story help me recapture the desires I held when I started law school.

Great work Mr. Goldstein and I look forward to reading your future work.

Damn you, Brandt Goldstein! I had a ton of work to do to get ready for a recent court appearance, but couldn't tear myself away from your book. And I already knew how it came out. As a lawyer, I was impressed by how you were able to take complicated legal concepts and make them not only easily understandable, but compelling reading. While it's obvious you had a good story to work with, you made it come alive in a way that makes me think you'd be great in front of a jury -- you're a real storyteller. While the events happened in the '90s, the book is as fresh as today's headlines about detainees at Guantanamo. Thanks for a great read.

What a good read!! Even for someone as "legally challenged" as I am, the book succeeded on so many levels. I cared so much about every one of those young people and certainly I agonized with the brave Professor Koh every step of the way. How unfortunate that we are dealing with many of the same issues today.
Thank you, Brandt Goldstein, for telling this story.
A Lambda from Minnesota Reader

The story had to be told and I am glad Mr. Goldstein did it. His writing style is engaging and clear. He keeps all of the appropriate legal detail in place but explains it in ways the reader will understand. I am not typically a "legal thriller" fan, but enjoyed the story here... especially because it was true.

Storming the Court is an exciting page-turner, a legal thriller that just happens to be fact, not fiction. If you want to find out how the US government first got into the habit of using Guantanamo as a prison where they could lock people up and just throw away the key, read this book. It tells the story of how a bunch of law students sued the US president to free some poor Haitian "boat people," snatched by the Coast Guard and left to rot on Guantanamo. And it tells this story very well.

i took the new york and new jersey bars this past summer. i didn't study for the nj day at all although i knew they had a whole question on federal civil procedures. unlike a lot of my friends at law school, i enjoyed my civ proc class and am able to remember what i learned from the class. we read this book before the semester started and it was a great backdrop to the introduction of the otherwise dry and tedious rules. we also had prof. goldstein teaching the course itself, so maybe it helped. a lot of us had never set a foot in the court before doing law school. while substantive law classes already took us some times to understand in the beginning, procedural laws could be much worse. the story itself is dramatically interesting. unlike the wills and trust case book with juicy stories of life, civ proc case book is boring. this book made the class a lot more entertaining. and most importantly, it reminded me the laws are for all people, rich or poor, healthy or disabled.

This book was very inspiring to myself, a prospective law student. Not only did it show the evolution of a Supreme Court case, but it also had a plot running through it that showed the true essence of being human, helping others. This is a great read for anyone looking to go into law, or anyone who wants to read a great book about great people.

Colonel Stephen Kinder is the hero in this book. Yes, the author leans to the left, but he gives Kinder the praise he deserves. Under his leadership, the US army peformed wisely and effectively in a very difficult politically charged humanitarian crisis. Kinder treated the desperate, poor and often sickly people of Haiti" with dignity and respect. The Haitians represent "the least of these," so in Biblical terms, he was "a good Samaritan," but he was also a wise and effective leader who brought the camp under control and did so without abuse or bloodshed. Through sheer force of will and personal kindness he "did the right thing." I happen to have had the privilege to meet and know Colonel Kinder. I see this book as a tribute to his strength of character and compassionate professionalism in the service of our country and the greater international good. Definitely worth reading!

This book reads like a courtroom drama, political thriller and coming of age novel all at once. The author has crafted a book that concisely deconstruct the legal jargon so that the reader, whether a lawyer or not, is able to clearly understand the legal issues and limitations of the case. The plot moves swiftly and is consistently exciting. The charaters are immediately identifiably, from the idealistic young lawyer considering a position at legal aid, to the frustrated professor leading the group to the lawyer who never expected to be putting in such long hours for charity.

The most compelling thing about this book is how the issues of detaining people on Guantanamo Bay resonates even today. Though the Haitian crisis occurred a while back, we are still debating the same issues. This book gives us greater insight into the legal debates that have shaped our current policy.