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on August 3, 2014
As a dedicated student of the Supreme Court and Constitutional Law, I find this book to be beyond EXCELLENT !! This is a book from which professors and law students would equally benefit in university Constitutional Law courses. Everything is here: references to past, present, and future cases and courts; all the issues faced by the Roberts Court; insightful analysis of the Supreme Court justices; visions of the evolution of past, present, and current cases before the Court; and incisive discussion and analysis of the major cases decided by the Roberts Court, with references to all relevant judicial decisions and reasoning. The author's ideas, observations, insights, and analysis are well-articulated, detailed, substantive, clear, and concise. I have detected no bias, political, social, or otherwise. For avid Supreme Court enthusiasts, as well as those who are curious about justice and desire to be informed, this book is an absolutely-definitely-must-read!
TOP 1000 REVIEWERon August 5, 2015
Uncertain Justice: The Roberts Court and the Constitution by Laurence Tribe, Joshua Matz
“Uncertain Justice” is a well-researched and insightful look at the Roberts court. It will help you gain a better understanding of the nine lawyers, their philosophies, their rulings and the impact it has on our society. Legal scholar Tribe and legal writer Matz have provided the public with keen insights into some of the most important decisions of the Supreme Court. This interesting 416-page book includes the following nine chapters: 1. Equality: Are We There Yet?, 2. Health Care: Liberty on the Line, 3. Campaign Finance: Follow the Money, 4. Freedom of Speech: Sex, Lies, and Video Games, 5. Gun Rights: Armed and Dangerous, 6. Presidential Power: Hail to the Chief, 7. Privacy: What Have You Got to Hide?, 8. Rights for Sale: Discounting the Constitution, and 9. Making Rights Real: Access to Justice.
Positives:
1. A well-researched, reasoned and even-handed book.
2. The fascinating topic of uncertainty at the Supreme Court in the hands of masters of the subject. It’s professionally treated. “In this book, we show how conventional wisdom on these matters is often misleading, and we draw out the latent meaning of many of this Court’s most important opinions to identify the uncertainties facing the nation and its justices.”
3. Goes beyond the stereotypical bent of liberals vs. conservatives and illustrates many cases where the justices surprisingly agree and disagree with one another. Great exploratory depth on how the justices disagree and do so by presenting their strongest arguments and rebuttals.
4. Does a wonderful job of portraying each justice accurately based on their backgrounds, philosophies and rulings. “Widely considered the best Supreme Court advocate of his generation, Roberts was known before his ascension to the Court as a gifted writer, skilled strategist, and brilliant legal mind.” “On the Court, Sotomayor has emerged as a voice for common sense. She has also displayed a keen sensitivity to the potential for injustice in law enforcement, calling attention to maltreatment in prisons, abuses of the death penalty system, dangers to privacy rights, and police and prosecutorial misconduct.”
5. Goes over some of the most noteworthy cases of the Roberts court. Cases include Citizens United, Affordable Care Act, and many other controversial cases that impact American life. It does so by going over the arguments of each case in the words of the justices.
6. Really puts in perspective the role of the Supreme Court in practice. “The Court receives roughly eight thousand petitions for review per year and usually grants around seventy-five, with each grant requiring the vote of four justices.”
7. How the Roberts court view equality. “In Parents Involved, Roberts championed a color-blind constitution, one that forbids government from using racial classifications—even when the goal is to benefit minorities.” Ginsburg on the other hand argued, “We are not far distant from an overtly discriminatory past, and the effects of centuries of law-sanctioned inequality remain painfully evident in our communities and schools.”
8. Fascinating tidbits that reflect how we have evolved as a society. “State-sanctioned discrimination was widely accepted; when IBM hired Windsor, it unknowingly violated an executive order barring companies with federal contracts from employing homosexuals.” “In Windsor, Kennedy—joined by Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan—held that DOMA cannot stand. But rather than rule broadly that the Constitution protects a right to same-sex marriage, he limited the direct holding of his opinion to the federal law under review.”
9. An interesting look back at the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). “Because the Constitution permits such a tax,” the Chief concluded, “it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness.” Construed as a tax, the “mandate” survived.”
10. The application of the Constitution of course plays a prominent role throughout the book. “The central insight regarding limits on federal power, credited to James Madison, is that the Constitution protects rights in more ways than one. Its most direct method of protection is to say something such as “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” By recognizing a right, the Constitution creates a strong presumption in favor of that kind of liberty. It tells Americans that we value this right; it also tells politicians to respect it and courts to guard its boundaries.”
11. Citizens United Case. The dissent may have been the most interesting aspect of that case. “Fast approaching the end of his long and storied career on the Court, Stevens composed a ninety-page dissent that besieged every factual premise, procedural device, and legal argument in Citizens United. The final lines of this epic opinion foreshadowed the coming conflict: ‘While American democracy is imperfect, few outside the majority of this Court would have thought its flaws included a dearth of corporate money in politics.’”
12. Options considered reforming Citizens United. “To those concerned by Citizens United, disclosure is likely to remain the most promising and realistic reform option.”
13. Interesting cases involving free speech. Cases involving prisoners, whistleblowers, new technology, violent speech, obscenity, etc…”Kennedy reasoned, ‘the remedy for speech that is false is speech that is true.’”
14. A look at gun rights exemplified by the District of Columbia v. Heller case. “Heller was hailed by Harvard Law Professor Cass Sunstein as ‘the most explicitly and self-consciously originalist opinion in the history of the Supreme Court.’”
15. The various interpretations of the Second Amendment. “In sum, though the Court refused to ‘pronounce the Second Amendment extinct,’ it also declined to disable effective gun regulation.”
16. Fascinating look at presidential power. “In sum, it would be undesirable and, indeed, impossible to require maximum enforcement of every federal law but dangerous to allow presidents simply to ignore any law they dislike.”
17. A look at privacy. “Sotomayor, willing to reconsider foundational precedents and more open to an active judicial role, has emerged as an eloquent champion of privacy’s importance.” “Sotomayor’s effort to forge a set of rights adapted to twenty-first-century realities, however, has met a more hostile audience among her colleagues. She wrote alone in a case about warrantless GPS tracking to argue that we may need to fundamentally rethink privacy rights.”
18. A look at our rights. “In sum, government enjoys broad power to offer deals in which we trade rights for other benefits, and in most cases we have no option but to make a choice.”
19. Access to justice. “The Court has reflected that sentiment by issuing a string of opinions—all decided five-to-four and all authored by Scalia—that have the obvious purpose of destroying most consumer and employment class actions.” “In general, a majority of the Roberts Court seems to doubt the value and legitimacy of many civil rights suits and favors legal rules that keep most of them out of court. The result is a shrinking judicial role in enforcing the Constitution and protecting our liberties. “
20. Links to notes.
Negatives:
1. Lack of visual material that could have strengthened the understanding of this excellent material. I would have suggested tables that summarized the rulings of each case that would have been invaluable to me.
2. Along the same lines as negative number one; charts, diagrams and even photos would have complemented the narrative.
3. Some of the cases follow one another in rapid-fire and may lose the reader.
4. Can be tedious reading at times.
5. No formal bibliography included.
In summary, missed opportunities aside this is an excellent book. Tribe and Matz in a fair and professional manner provide the public with some interesting insights into the Roberts court. They cover some of the most interesting cases and provide the justices perspectives. “We aim to make useful generalizations about why the justices see things the way they do, what competing visions press against their core beliefs, and where their assumptions and aspirations are likely to lead them.” This is a 4.5 star out of five, I highly recommend it!
Further recommendations: “The Roberts Court” by Marcia Coyle, “The Nine” and “The Oath” By Jeffrey Toobin, “The Brethren” by Bob Woodward, “Six Amendments” by John Paul Stevens, “Five Chiefs” by John Paul Stevens, “Overruled” by Damon Root, “Scalia” by Bruce Allen Murphy, “Justice for All” by Jim Newton, “A People’s History of the Supreme Court” by Peter Irons, “Making Our Democracy Work” by Stephen Breyer, “The Conservative Assault on the Constitution” by Erwin Chemerinsky, and “My Beloved World” by Sonia Sotomayor.
“Uncertain Justice” is a well-researched and insightful look at the Roberts court. It will help you gain a better understanding of the nine lawyers, their philosophies, their rulings and the impact it has on our society. Legal scholar Tribe and legal writer Matz have provided the public with keen insights into some of the most important decisions of the Supreme Court. This interesting 416-page book includes the following nine chapters: 1. Equality: Are We There Yet?, 2. Health Care: Liberty on the Line, 3. Campaign Finance: Follow the Money, 4. Freedom of Speech: Sex, Lies, and Video Games, 5. Gun Rights: Armed and Dangerous, 6. Presidential Power: Hail to the Chief, 7. Privacy: What Have You Got to Hide?, 8. Rights for Sale: Discounting the Constitution, and 9. Making Rights Real: Access to Justice.
Positives:
1. A well-researched, reasoned and even-handed book.
2. The fascinating topic of uncertainty at the Supreme Court in the hands of masters of the subject. It’s professionally treated. “In this book, we show how conventional wisdom on these matters is often misleading, and we draw out the latent meaning of many of this Court’s most important opinions to identify the uncertainties facing the nation and its justices.”
3. Goes beyond the stereotypical bent of liberals vs. conservatives and illustrates many cases where the justices surprisingly agree and disagree with one another. Great exploratory depth on how the justices disagree and do so by presenting their strongest arguments and rebuttals.
4. Does a wonderful job of portraying each justice accurately based on their backgrounds, philosophies and rulings. “Widely considered the best Supreme Court advocate of his generation, Roberts was known before his ascension to the Court as a gifted writer, skilled strategist, and brilliant legal mind.” “On the Court, Sotomayor has emerged as a voice for common sense. She has also displayed a keen sensitivity to the potential for injustice in law enforcement, calling attention to maltreatment in prisons, abuses of the death penalty system, dangers to privacy rights, and police and prosecutorial misconduct.”
5. Goes over some of the most noteworthy cases of the Roberts court. Cases include Citizens United, Affordable Care Act, and many other controversial cases that impact American life. It does so by going over the arguments of each case in the words of the justices.
6. Really puts in perspective the role of the Supreme Court in practice. “The Court receives roughly eight thousand petitions for review per year and usually grants around seventy-five, with each grant requiring the vote of four justices.”
7. How the Roberts court view equality. “In Parents Involved, Roberts championed a color-blind constitution, one that forbids government from using racial classifications—even when the goal is to benefit minorities.” Ginsburg on the other hand argued, “We are not far distant from an overtly discriminatory past, and the effects of centuries of law-sanctioned inequality remain painfully evident in our communities and schools.”
8. Fascinating tidbits that reflect how we have evolved as a society. “State-sanctioned discrimination was widely accepted; when IBM hired Windsor, it unknowingly violated an executive order barring companies with federal contracts from employing homosexuals.” “In Windsor, Kennedy—joined by Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan—held that DOMA cannot stand. But rather than rule broadly that the Constitution protects a right to same-sex marriage, he limited the direct holding of his opinion to the federal law under review.”
9. An interesting look back at the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). “Because the Constitution permits such a tax,” the Chief concluded, “it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness.” Construed as a tax, the “mandate” survived.”
10. The application of the Constitution of course plays a prominent role throughout the book. “The central insight regarding limits on federal power, credited to James Madison, is that the Constitution protects rights in more ways than one. Its most direct method of protection is to say something such as “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” By recognizing a right, the Constitution creates a strong presumption in favor of that kind of liberty. It tells Americans that we value this right; it also tells politicians to respect it and courts to guard its boundaries.”
11. Citizens United Case. The dissent may have been the most interesting aspect of that case. “Fast approaching the end of his long and storied career on the Court, Stevens composed a ninety-page dissent that besieged every factual premise, procedural device, and legal argument in Citizens United. The final lines of this epic opinion foreshadowed the coming conflict: ‘While American democracy is imperfect, few outside the majority of this Court would have thought its flaws included a dearth of corporate money in politics.’”
12. Options considered reforming Citizens United. “To those concerned by Citizens United, disclosure is likely to remain the most promising and realistic reform option.”
13. Interesting cases involving free speech. Cases involving prisoners, whistleblowers, new technology, violent speech, obscenity, etc…”Kennedy reasoned, ‘the remedy for speech that is false is speech that is true.’”
14. A look at gun rights exemplified by the District of Columbia v. Heller case. “Heller was hailed by Harvard Law Professor Cass Sunstein as ‘the most explicitly and self-consciously originalist opinion in the history of the Supreme Court.’”
15. The various interpretations of the Second Amendment. “In sum, though the Court refused to ‘pronounce the Second Amendment extinct,’ it also declined to disable effective gun regulation.”
16. Fascinating look at presidential power. “In sum, it would be undesirable and, indeed, impossible to require maximum enforcement of every federal law but dangerous to allow presidents simply to ignore any law they dislike.”
17. A look at privacy. “Sotomayor, willing to reconsider foundational precedents and more open to an active judicial role, has emerged as an eloquent champion of privacy’s importance.” “Sotomayor’s effort to forge a set of rights adapted to twenty-first-century realities, however, has met a more hostile audience among her colleagues. She wrote alone in a case about warrantless GPS tracking to argue that we may need to fundamentally rethink privacy rights.”
18. A look at our rights. “In sum, government enjoys broad power to offer deals in which we trade rights for other benefits, and in most cases we have no option but to make a choice.”
19. Access to justice. “The Court has reflected that sentiment by issuing a string of opinions—all decided five-to-four and all authored by Scalia—that have the obvious purpose of destroying most consumer and employment class actions.” “In general, a majority of the Roberts Court seems to doubt the value and legitimacy of many civil rights suits and favors legal rules that keep most of them out of court. The result is a shrinking judicial role in enforcing the Constitution and protecting our liberties. “
20. Links to notes.
Negatives:
1. Lack of visual material that could have strengthened the understanding of this excellent material. I would have suggested tables that summarized the rulings of each case that would have been invaluable to me.
2. Along the same lines as negative number one; charts, diagrams and even photos would have complemented the narrative.
3. Some of the cases follow one another in rapid-fire and may lose the reader.
4. Can be tedious reading at times.
5. No formal bibliography included.
In summary, missed opportunities aside this is an excellent book. Tribe and Matz in a fair and professional manner provide the public with some interesting insights into the Roberts court. They cover some of the most interesting cases and provide the justices perspectives. “We aim to make useful generalizations about why the justices see things the way they do, what competing visions press against their core beliefs, and where their assumptions and aspirations are likely to lead them.” This is a 4.5 star out of five, I highly recommend it!
Further recommendations: “The Roberts Court” by Marcia Coyle, “The Nine” and “The Oath” By Jeffrey Toobin, “The Brethren” by Bob Woodward, “Six Amendments” by John Paul Stevens, “Five Chiefs” by John Paul Stevens, “Overruled” by Damon Root, “Scalia” by Bruce Allen Murphy, “Justice for All” by Jim Newton, “A People’s History of the Supreme Court” by Peter Irons, “Making Our Democracy Work” by Stephen Breyer, “The Conservative Assault on the Constitution” by Erwin Chemerinsky, and “My Beloved World” by Sonia Sotomayor.
VINE VOICEon June 25, 2014
Laurence Tribe is a brilliant constitutional scholar, but this book is targeted at the intelligent lay reader. It is *not* dumbed down, but it is not a law text-book; it is a brilliant and incisive analysis of the Roberts court, and it will, if nothing else, dispel much of what you think you know about the justices and provide context and deep understanding of the issues recently before the court.
Very highly recommended
Very highly recommended
on June 16, 2014
This delightful, generous, jargon-free book treats controversy with clarity: selects key facts to outline the issues, paints three-dimensional portraits, not caricatures, of the justices, and ventures confidently into legal thickets, so those in the know will recognize the signposts, but newcomers won't be detoured or get lost. The writers' erudition, craft, and civic virtue lifts their work above most popular books about the law. Their work has the briskness but not the glibness of Malcolm Gladwell, the twin respect for the reader and the subject of Steven Jay Gould.
It surprised me but made sense to learn that Scalia is more traditionalist than originalist, Breyer more technocrat than liberal, Kagan more cautious than activist. But the focus of the book is on rulings, not personalities, and here the writers function at their peak. I raced through the passages that describe the novel and narrow definition of corruption that justifies Citizens United, the three-century patchwork of sources that supports the court's changed view of the 2nd Amendment, the libertarian faith in structural safeguards as guarantors of individual rights. The book explains exactly what all this means with elegance and fairness.
Those of us who consider the Roberts court lawless might wish the book focused more on precedent: how brazen it is, for example, in Citizens United to overturn a century of law in a 5-4 decision based on newly-minted theory; or acknowledged recent research that demonstrates the decisive role of personal prejudice in rulings by Republican-appointed judges. The day I write this, June 16, 2014, the New York Times has published a study showing they are far more likely to rule in favor of womens' rights if they themselves have daughters. Surely in the case of Scalia, his enthusiasm for hunting and lack of openly gay friends explains his opinions better than any originalist reading of the constitution.
Whether a result of diplomacy or studious effort not to exceed the writers' expertise, such discussions, though, lie outside the scope of this book. It take the justices' opinions at face value even when contradictory or nonsensical. To me this perspective is too limited, (though others may call it disciplined,) but the book is so wonderful, it would be petty to find fault with it.
It surprised me but made sense to learn that Scalia is more traditionalist than originalist, Breyer more technocrat than liberal, Kagan more cautious than activist. But the focus of the book is on rulings, not personalities, and here the writers function at their peak. I raced through the passages that describe the novel and narrow definition of corruption that justifies Citizens United, the three-century patchwork of sources that supports the court's changed view of the 2nd Amendment, the libertarian faith in structural safeguards as guarantors of individual rights. The book explains exactly what all this means with elegance and fairness.
Those of us who consider the Roberts court lawless might wish the book focused more on precedent: how brazen it is, for example, in Citizens United to overturn a century of law in a 5-4 decision based on newly-minted theory; or acknowledged recent research that demonstrates the decisive role of personal prejudice in rulings by Republican-appointed judges. The day I write this, June 16, 2014, the New York Times has published a study showing they are far more likely to rule in favor of womens' rights if they themselves have daughters. Surely in the case of Scalia, his enthusiasm for hunting and lack of openly gay friends explains his opinions better than any originalist reading of the constitution.
Whether a result of diplomacy or studious effort not to exceed the writers' expertise, such discussions, though, lie outside the scope of this book. It take the justices' opinions at face value even when contradictory or nonsensical. To me this perspective is too limited, (though others may call it disciplined,) but the book is so wonderful, it would be petty to find fault with it.
on December 7, 2014
This is an excellent book. It illustrates the current (and past) direction(s) of the Court; and specifically, the Roberts' court. It illustrates something I had never really thought about--that is, how we have slowly been giving up some of our constitutional rights, without even being aware of it. I would consider this a "must-read" for everyone. I have found that the Supreme Court is far more interesting than most people realize. Regardless of one's political orientation, this book is very thought-provoking and addresses some very important issues, that easily slip below our radar screens. Well-written.
on October 30, 2014
Extremely informative, authors (and lawyers) Tribe and Matz take the reader through a few of the major decisions in the first ten years of the Roberts Court. Tribe is a nationally famous Supreme Court litigator and Matz is also deeply involved in the workings of the Court. First, although its apparent how the authors feel about the decisions discussed, I thought they did a good job of presenting the different sides of the cases in order to allow readers a reasonable shot at deciding for themselves. The more famous cases, such as 'Citizens United', Affirmative Action, and the Defense of Marriage Act are discussed, as well as some less publicized but every bit as important cases. As most people know but rarely contemplate, the Supreme Court has a subtle, but huge impact on the life of every American. This is a well written, important book that is well worth your time.
on August 24, 2014
The best book about the court written in years. Each justice is brought alive as an independent (though often flawed) thinker who does not neatly fall into the partisan camps (conservative or liberal) we ascribe to them. The book also shows how various opinions lead to trajectories that are designed to serve a particular justice's longer term objectives regarding first amendment or other constitutional provisions. Lucid writing, penetrating analysis, and scholarly objectivity. If you're interested in how the court works, read this book!
on August 6, 2014
Having just finished this book, I am experiencing the glow that occurs after reading something that has been deeply affecting. This is a marvelously interesting and readable journey into the workings of the Roberts Court, and the eight other justices that constitute our Supreme Court. Laurence Tribe and Joshua Matz dissect the important cases that have reshaped the direction the Court is taking that will eventually reshape our lives, and also paint fascinating portraits of the justices, mostly based on their arguments and dissents, but sometimes, more amusingly, on their more private observations.
The format of the book makes it especially readable, with chapters on Health Care, Gun Rights, Privacy, Presidential Power, and others, that illuminate these issues from an historical perspective, and casts light on what to expect from these decisions in the future as well.
This book has made me a far better- informed and more avid Court-watcher, and I am very grateful for that.
The format of the book makes it especially readable, with chapters on Health Care, Gun Rights, Privacy, Presidential Power, and others, that illuminate these issues from an historical perspective, and casts light on what to expect from these decisions in the future as well.
This book has made me a far better- informed and more avid Court-watcher, and I am very grateful for that.
on December 27, 2014
An extremely perceptive view at the Roberts court, where it has been and where it may be headed.Individual justices' orientations to issues are described and how these perspectives influence votes.
As a lawyer, I found the book easy to read; indeed for me it was a page-turner. Highly recommended.
As a lawyer, I found the book easy to read; indeed for me it was a page-turner. Highly recommended.
