The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court Paperback – Illustrated, September 9, 2008

This book is a page-turner, not just for political junkies like meor even lawyers interested in what goes on with the "Supremes". It'sa great study of personalities and professional ethics in law and politics.Toobin is a brilliant writer. I've read several books by him.I even read his book about the O.J. Simpson case. Occasionally,I feel sorry for him when on CNN they ask him to comment onstuff like Britney Spears and O.J.'s latest adventure. Herehe is discussing much more important things and strikes a perfectbalance such that non-lawyers can enjoy this work even if they maynot understand some of the legal issues as well as we lawyers can.This is by far the best book ever written on the Supreme Court.More importantly, Toobin has warned us that if the GOPwins in 2008, we may be able to keep our guns--until some "national security" crisis comes up--but you can forget about the rest of theBill of Rights. Some of you may have noticed that theFourth Amendment is already pretty much gone. TheRepublicans are now arguing that measures to restoreit are part of a "far-left agenda".The general thesis of the book is that there is areally tenuous situation now. The vast majorityof Supreme Court nominees in the last forty yearshave been Republicans, yet most of the Warren Court"liberal" decisions are hanging on--barely.What is really remarkable is when you realizethat the only "liberal" Justices since Nixonput Rehnquist, Powell, Burger, and Blackmun onthe high court are the Clinton appointees Ginzburgand Breyer. Yet the "liberal" rulings on civilrights are still with us. They won't be much longer ifthe GOP wins in 2008.It's not a major theme of the book, but Toobin's analysisof Souter is most interesting. He places Souter in thetradition of Harlan II, particularly on the issue of"unenumerated rights", something I have argued aboutextensively on the internet.To put it succinctly, when the framers were draftingthe Constitution, there was an argument about theBill of Rights. Some said that by enumerating specificrights, the Constitution might be read as granting onlythose rights to states or to individuals.So to guard against that argument, the Ninth Amendmentwas added. The gist is that rights do not derive fromgovernment and that by enumerating specific rights,the Constitution does not mean that other rights donot exist. It's pretty clear, but it has not been widelyaccepted. Most of today's so-called "conservatives" argue thatthe only rights we have are those that are "granted"by the Constitution. This is totally antithetical tothe intent of the framers.Today, though most of the Republican candidates arelawyers, including Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, and RudyGuiliani, the prevailing view of the so-called "conservatives"seems to be that you only have the rights that are explicitlygranted by the Constitution. Toobin rightly predicts thatthe right to privacy will disappear if there are one or twomore justices like Roberts and Alito.After Bush v. Gore, Souter apparently was so disgustedthat he considered resigning. Had he done so, one of thelandmark decisions of the past few years, Lawrence v. Texas,might have gone the other way. And that decision, which builton the privacy rights of Roe v. Wade to overturn laws againstprivate sexual conduct, is in real danger just as abortion rights are.I cannot recommend this book highly enough, particularly forlaw students and lawyers. I started reading it late at nightand just could not put it down.To those who complain about Toobin's "liberal" bent, I say "rubbish".He is sympathetic to all the human qualities of the nine justices andexplains the way the court works from that perspective.He could easily have concentrated on a point that he makesvery subtly--it's the so-called "conservatives" on the courtthat are the truly "activist judges".

There is no doubt that Toobin has a gift for writing history with the average reader in mind. The Nine is both entertaining and educational, recounting the history of the Burger, Rheinquist and Roberts Courts. The book focuses separately on the political decisions and drama that lead to the composition of the Court, and the landmark cases of interest to the general public. Most striking is the recounting of "inside information" happening within the Justices' chambers during these historic moments.This book was not written for appellate lawyers, and does not dwell on little-known cases with (arguably) more legal importance than Roe v. Wade etc. But Toobin's aim is not to recant important case law, but to draw focus to the human actors and the way in which they made decisions affecting millions of Americans. He achieves this, and gives readers a privileged view into the most secretive branch of the US government.I do wish that Toobin had taken a more tempered approach to looking at the Supreme Court. When only focusing on contentious cases, one can walk away with a very jaded view of the good work the Justices do. To wit, a major element of the book is a narrative of a seedy conservative plot to take over the Court. While the Court has no doubt drifted right, Toobin's panic can seep through in off putting ways. Unfortunately, this is largely to do with the historical moment Toobin focuses on which is exclusively after the Warren Court. A reader interested in the politics of the Court would be wise to expand their inquiries to other sources, and other periods of Court history, and take Toobin's conclusions with a grain of salt.

The plot of land that is home to the Supreme Court is small, irregularly shaped, and wedged between two other buildings. In order to impress the public with the importance of the Supreme Court, the original architect designed it with 44 steps leading to the entrance, guarded by soaring marble columns standing like sentrys at the entrance to the court building. The goal was to have visitors and those with business before the court be awed by the experience, and be humbled by what they were about to be part of."The Nine" bears witness the the actual human frailties of the Supreme Court. It is not the building, it is the members of the court who give it whatever statue and bearing it is might have. The intent of the Supreme Court was to be a constant, a rock of representation of the people over the vagaries of the comings and goings of members of Congress."The Nine" looks deeply into the makeup of the John Roberts court, and the very important, and often times frightening thought process of the individual members. Tobin is able to dig deeply into each justice, their histories, what in their lives may have significantly contributed to their belief systems, and how this combination of individual chemistry makes decisions.As a reader, I was also scared straight, so to speak, in realizing how large a role individual pettiness, personal politics and prejudices, and in some cases, lack of experiences plays in determining the rules of the land. Where many might see, or wish to believe in the concept of an august body of minds determining cases based upon deep legal research and unbiased, logical thinking, Tobin shows the actual process to be the opposite.The author has peeled back the layers of secrecy that surrounds the Court, and reveals just who had the real power in the court, the politics of being nominated and approved to sit as a justice, and the role that expediency and partisinship plays in becoming a nominee.The most disturbing aspects to me, without giving away too much of the insights provided by reading the book, was just how shallow and vindicitive one currently sitting justice is. He in turn, is followed by another who is so extreme, who views the Constitution strictly as though he were sitting in Philadelphia in the 18th century, as to make his votes and his opinions marginal at best.There is also great deal of discussion of several recent and very controversial rulings, such as the New London eminent domain case in which a public entity can take property to give to a commercial concern. Or the Citizens United, which allows corporations to pass on the benefits of their deep pockets to political parties and candidates.Reading "The Nine" was an eye-opening experience for me, which pulled back the black curtains of secrecy. It was like removing the robes of the justices, and finding out they wear the same frazzled jeans to work that I often do. Tobin has managed to write a compelling story that reveals just how human the court really is.As for the imposing steps to gaining entrance, I was left to feel that today's court has replaced them with a people mover, welcoming wealthy individuals and mega-corporations to the inner sanctums where their wishes become almost rubber stamped. The irony is that the steps are about to be closed in real life, and a side entrance will be used in the future. It's as if the Supreme Court of the past, once held in high esteem and regard as represented by its imposing entrance, has become yet another assembly line of sound-byte justice.A great read overall.

The book is very good, as it gives an insight of the Supreme Court politics. Some parts of the text could be a little more concise, but it is overall very well written.

Libro intenso ed interessante, per me sta diventando motivo di approfondimento della lingua inglese. Trovo che sia un peccato la mancata traduzione in italiano di questo volume, a me avrebbe fatto senz'altro comodo. O magari esiste tradotto e non lo ho trovato io, non saprei. In ogni caso lo consiglio per chi ha dimestichezza con l'inglese e per chi vuole intraprendere un viaggio non solo nella Corte Suprema americana ma anche nelle vite dei Giudici che la compongono. Un racconto a tratti divertente, capace di far spuntare un sorriso in chi lo legge.

x-mas present, son found book interesting. K

Absolutely brilliant book - couldn't put it down. The author manages to draw you in with tidbits from court life and also, at crucial points, gives you backstory to the justice's that in context explain their court decisions well.The book itself isn't just full of the decisions either; it runs over maybe a dozen of the most important over a period of years but does so without being stuffy or boring: a must read for anyone interested in the Supreme Court.

アメリカ人ならば、記述してある歴史的事実を興味深く読めたと思いますが、私にはこのバックグラウンドが欠けているので面白味は味わえませんでした。