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Closed Chambers: The Rise, Fall, and Future of the Modern Supreme Court Paperback – June 1, 1999

by Edward Lazarus (Author)

4.5 58 ratings

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An inside look at the most secretive institution in the American government--the Supreme Court.

Operating inside a network of Byzantine secrecy, the United States Supreme Court is the most powerful judicial institution in the world. Nine unelected justices, supposedly insulated from the pressure of politics, are charged with protecting our most cherished rights and shaping our fundamental laws.

In this eloquent, trailblazing account, Edward Lazarus, who served as a clerk to Justice Harry Blackmun, provides an insider's guided tour of a court at war with itself and often in neglect of its constitutional duties. He guides the reader through the Court's inner sanctum, explaining as only an eyewitness can the collisions of law, politics, and personality as the Justices wrestle with the most fiercely disputed issues of our time. Part memoir, part history, and all spellbinding narrative, Closed Chambers provides an intimate portrait--Justice by Justice--of the battles and compromises of the highest court in the land.

--Updated with a new Afterword

"Impeccably researched and impressively documented." --The Boston Globe

Print length

592 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Books
Publication date

June 1, 1999
Dimensions

5.42 x 1.31 x 7.98 inches
ISBN-10

0140283560
ISBN-13

978-0140283563
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; Updated edition (June 1, 1999)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 592 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0140283560
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140283563
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.08 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.42 x 1.31 x 7.98 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,160,152 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #156,621 in United States History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.5 58 ratings

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Boraxo

Fascinating book provides inside scoop on the supremes

Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2005

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It is about time that someone brings sunlight to the inner workings of the Supreme Court. In spite of his decidedly liberal political leanings, Lazarus provides an objective look at the inner workings of the supreme court circa 1988. Lazarus does an excellent job of showing how the polarization of the Court has been detrimental to the pursuit of justice, just as the polarization of Congress has been detrimental to the legislative process.

Although non-lawyers may find his writing a bit technical, particularly on esoteric legal issues, they will nonetheless appreciate his candid views on the justices' decisionmaking process.

And finally a challange to the critics who believe that Lazarus has betrayed his employer: Please explain why we are not entitled to know how the highest court in the land makes its decisions. Congress has public hearings that are broadcast on CSPAN. The President receives more media attention than any other person in the world (absent the late Princess Di) and his minions will write dozens of tell-all books after he leaves office. Why should the Court be exempt from scrutiny? If the justices are embarassed then maybe they should change their ways.

17 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Very readable

Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2022

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Fascinating topic (for some of us) and well written. I'm glad I bought it, and I very much enjoyed reading it.

One person found this helpful

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Touffu

Nothing but praise

Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2009

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Lazarus does a great job explaining complex legal issues without dumbing them down and Justice Blackmun really comes alive on these pages. He's like one of those great fictional characters: you might have never heard of him before, never gave a damn and now you do. Totally captivating in some parts: no mean feat for a legal non-fic. The section on capital punishment should be required reading for all Amnesty International members (especially the non-American ones). Thank you Mr. Lazarus!

3 people found this helpful

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Craig Anthony Nicholas

Privileged Access to Leaders Who Decide the Rule of Law

Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2010

In this first-hand account through the lens of Supreme Court Clerk of Justice Blackmun from 1988-89, Edward Lazarus,

growth of "federalism." Today we are still dealing with what Bork's rejection to the court has wrought and the involvement of clerks in the orchestration of opinion research and writing. There is no "dirt" or "scandal" some would imagine from the hype of behind the scenes action, but you get a healthy view of the dynamic elements in play for this sacred institution. One always will note the caricature of legal history as told by it's witnesses. The book illustrates both how forming of opinion requires interactive correspondence and how it is brokered sometimes through negotiated horse-trading.

The book is not written with extensive legal analysis. It illuminates that however we have held sacred the deliberative body to follow the "original intent" of the constitution and connected law, there is a measure of privilege in the latitude at which justices may arrive at what the law is or ought to be on moral legal issues principally covering conversations on abortion and the death penalty.

The President and the Congress are on a 24 hour news cycle; The Supreme Court is not. So this book is a welcome insight that does the job of giving us important access on how we may better place the 9 leaders who shape our law.

We count on a Supreme Court predisposed more for qualified reasoning than results and to call the shots in an imperfect, politically polarized, atmosphere. Nobility and integrity of character will be important marks for those seeking to shape our rights, and freedom, and the rule of law.

I have also have made reviews on:
Storm Center: The Supreme Court in American Politics, Eighth Edition (Hardback), The Center Holds: The Power Struggle Inside the Rehnquist Court , and Reason and Passion: Justice Brennan's Enduring Influence

My favorite overall on the high court is Storm Center: The Supreme Court in American Politics, Eighth Edition . It is great for those that want to study both the court as an institution as well as the politics of the major case issues.

I also recommend:
The Center Holds: The Power Struggle Inside the Rehnquist Court . The book on Brennan is not intended to be on balance.

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Ameripen

Erudite yet still compelling

Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2014

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The Supreme Court is a body that is so important, but about which so little is known. Even, I think, the intelligence agencies are more public about the manner in which they operate. This book changes all that. I enjoyed it thoroughly. It is erudite yet still compelling. It has persuaded me to pursue a law degree.

3 people found this helpful

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M Lauderdale

Informative but hopelessly slanted if not distorted

Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2023

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The book was thorough, well written. But the author's biases were so hopelessly evident than upon completion of reading it, I tossed in in the trash torn to pieces.

He constantly backhanded the conservative clerks with typical liberal name calling, barely mentioned Scalia except in cleverly deceptive ways although clearly Scalia was the dominant intellectual force, more so than Stevens who people have labeled the smartest justice on the court.
Give me a break: Scalia was one of those person's like Michael Jordan, everyone else was just playing for second. But he was portrayed kinda like some ogre instead of the brilliant, charming, funny, supremely talented person that he was

His reverence for Justice Blackmun was unwarranted as Blackmun was perhaps the least qualified and most insecure to be a scotus justice, and was obviously deeply influenced by his work in the medical legal community regarding abortion.

Anytime a liberal advocates for abortion, they always paint liberals who support it such as Ginsburg or others in a sympathetic light. This author was certainly no different. In my opinion, Harry Blackmun and certainly Ruth Bader Ginsburg deserve derision for their written opinions, not admiration

It was a decent and well constructed book, but because of inherent liberal dishonest, I wouldn't want anyone else to read it and wouldn't recommend it

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Edoardo Palazzolo

Significantly useful for my angloamerican law studies

Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2016

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Exactly what I expected. Significantly useful for my angloamerican law studies.

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2015

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Excellent condition

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Thomas M. O'malley

A great work

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 17, 2013

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This is a wonderful book. While ostensibly a memoir of the author's year as a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court justice, Harry Blackmun, it is a much richer work than that. It is, in fact, a deeply scholarly and extraordinarily well-written analysis of the Supreme Court and its work, taking in, along the way, some very perceptive analsyses of leading Supreme Court deciions. If I were teaching a course on comparative constitutional law, I would certainly have this as a key item of reading material. However, another of its great strengths is that it can be read and enjoyed by anyone, whether or not they have a background in law or in American politics.

One person found this helpful

リベラリスト

連邦最高裁への一つの視角

Reviewed in Japan on October 8, 2009

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非常に良く整理された、史的観点からの連邦最高裁の総覧である。その意味で非常に有益。著者はブラックマン判事のロークラークであっただけにリベラル色がやや強いものの、連邦最高裁が時代の牽引役を担ったのは例外であり、総体的には法的安定性を重視してきた姿を公正に描いている。しかし、日本人の立場から見れば、それはあるべき最高裁の姿とも思われ、法の支配が具現された一つの現れを垣間見せてもくれる。大部ではあるが、邦訳されて多くの方、とりわけ法学部生の方に読まれると良いと思う。

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