Books Set in the United States: Washington, D.C.

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, by Jeffrey Toobin (2008)

Who knew that a book about the Supreme Court Justices could be such a page turner? Jeffrey Toobin has created a fascinate book about the William Rehnquits Court.

Toobin first describes a brief history of the Earl Warren and Warren Burger Courts and the beginning of the civil rights movement in the United States. During this period on American history, the federal government played an expansive role in forming the country. With the election of Ronald Reagan, conservative ideas began to the move to restrict the reach of the federal reach.

In writing this book, Toobin interviewed some of the Supreme Court Justices (although he never names which ones provided him with the inside scoop), and many of their clerks over the years. The result is a remarkable insight into the inner workings of the Court, along with the petty scrabbles and grudges the Justices harbor.

The Justices in the Rehnquist Court served together for 9 years (from 1994 through 2004), which is the longest period without a change in the history of the nine-justice Court. In addition to Chief Justice William Rehnquist, the other Justices were Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Anthony Kennedy, Sandra Day O’Connor, Antonin Scalia, John Paul Stevens, David Souter, and Clarence Thomas.

Toobin describes how some of the advances made in the previous Court are being eroded. He provides careful detail of how such cases and issues as abortion civil rights, affirmative action and the separation of church and state are discussed and changed. Toobin describes how the individual philosophies and prejudices come into play in drafting the Court’s decisions.

The book is terribly revealing and anyone who thinks that the Court’s decisions are made altruistically will be in for a shock. The reader learns such tidbits as how Clarence Thomas selects his law clerks, and how David Souter was devastated following the Bush v. Gore, so much so that he nearly resigned from the Court. The reason given for his remaining on the Court was due to his reluctance to forgo his full retirement if he left early. Toobin take a look into the philosophy and background of each Justice in turn.

The Nine also contains a fascinating account of the nomination process of John Roberts and Samuel Alito, who replaced William Rehnquist and Sandra Day O’Connor, respectively.

The book makes for interesting reading. Although many landmark cases are discussed, the reader does not need to have a legal background to realize the impact the Court has on American life. The Nine should be a “must read” for all Americans.


Read: July 29, 2010