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on July 15, 2013
I unreservedly recommend Greenhouse's book for distinguished jurists and lawyers, as well as for laymen interested in the Constitution and the functioning of the Supreme Court. There are marvelous nuggets of personal insight and of judicial history and analysis that would enlighten us all.
Linda Greenhouse is one of my favorite Supreme Court chroniclers of our era. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and other distinguished awards for her NEW YORK TIMES coverage of the Supreme Court (1978 to 2007, with a two-year break in the mid-80s),Greenhouse is uncommonly well versed in the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and the judicial personalities of recent Court justices. She also displays flashes of personal opinion, especially on abortion, same-sex marriage, and a flexible application of a constitution written nearly 250 years ago
Taking early retirement from the TIMES in 2008,Greenhouse teaches at Yale Law School and writes frequent, opinionated TIMES commentary columns. The most recent, 7/10/13, was on the debilitating long-term affect of carefully crafted, compromise Court majority opinions.
THE SUPREME COURT is part of the Oxford Very Short Introduction series that, since, 1995, has covered over 300 topics. In only 98 pages Greenhouse provides a thumb-nail sketch of the Supreme Court's history and several turning-point cases. Far more important, she describes, with exquisite examples: how the Court functions, critical issues of law, the long-term impact of public opinion, and how personal the process can become. This is the inside story from a highly-respected insider. (Seven of nine sitting Supreme Court justices attended her farewell party.)
As a layman, I have included the Constitution and various Supreme Court decisions in my college American history courses for over two decades, have read many books on diverse aspects of the Supreme Court, and, on occasion, have made public presentations on the Constitution. Greenhouse's book makes me feel like a constitutional and Supreme Court neophyte. Greenhouse has drawn on her forty plus years of experience to capture the essence of the Supreme Court through pithy examples and well-grounded personal opinions.
Perhaps most surprising, in such a slim book, is the space devoted to her criticism of life-time appointments for Supreme Court justices. She highlights that this is not the practice globally in any long-established judicial system. However, she does not suggest that a constitutional amendment changing this is even a remote possibility.
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Linda Greenhouse is one of my favorite Supreme Court chroniclers of our era. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and other distinguished awards for her NEW YORK TIMES coverage of the Supreme Court (1978 to 2007, with a two-year break in the mid-80s),Greenhouse is uncommonly well versed in the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and the judicial personalities of recent Court justices. She also displays flashes of personal opinion, especially on abortion, same-sex marriage, and a flexible application of a constitution written nearly 250 years ago
Taking early retirement from the TIMES in 2008,Greenhouse teaches at Yale Law School and writes frequent, opinionated TIMES commentary columns. The most recent, 7/10/13, was on the debilitating long-term affect of carefully crafted, compromise Court majority opinions.
THE SUPREME COURT is part of the Oxford Very Short Introduction series that, since, 1995, has covered over 300 topics. In only 98 pages Greenhouse provides a thumb-nail sketch of the Supreme Court's history and several turning-point cases. Far more important, she describes, with exquisite examples: how the Court functions, critical issues of law, the long-term impact of public opinion, and how personal the process can become. This is the inside story from a highly-respected insider. (Seven of nine sitting Supreme Court justices attended her farewell party.)
As a layman, I have included the Constitution and various Supreme Court decisions in my college American history courses for over two decades, have read many books on diverse aspects of the Supreme Court, and, on occasion, have made public presentations on the Constitution. Greenhouse's book makes me feel like a constitutional and Supreme Court neophyte. Greenhouse has drawn on her forty plus years of experience to capture the essence of the Supreme Court through pithy examples and well-grounded personal opinions.
Perhaps most surprising, in such a slim book, is the space devoted to her criticism of life-time appointments for Supreme Court justices. She highlights that this is not the practice globally in any long-established judicial system. However, she does not suggest that a constitutional amendment changing this is even a remote possibility.
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on September 22, 2014
Needed this for a college class, it was much cheaper to download it on Kindle cloud then buying a paper version I will never look at again and I had it right away
on October 22, 2016
Clearly written, easy to understand. Very helpful guide to a basic understanding of how the court works.
on November 1, 2016
a fabulous book......hard to underline because every sentence is important
on October 8, 2016
This is a very complex topic....and this book did a great job netting it out!!
on November 19, 2012
NY Times Supreme Court reporter/ author Linda Greenhouse shows her knowledge of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in this short book. I, apparently, read the book's first printing in which Greenhouse incorrectly described the Lynch v. Donnelly decision as a school prayer case. The actual Lynch opinion permitted placing a creche in a RI public park along with other holiday symbols. Lee v. Weisman was the junior high graduation prayer case. When I e-mailed her about this, she immediately and graciously responded to me that this mix-up had been corrected after the first printing. Kudos to her! Again, this book is worth reading for the Court's history, interaction with Congresses and Presidents, and the cases discussed.
on October 30, 2014
Queued up still in my list of things to read. I buy too many books while on vacation and it takes me awhile to get caught up. But after a quick skim, I am looking forward to consuming this book.
on November 1, 2016
Great for the basic understanding
