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The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court | 
 enlarge | Author: Jeffrey Toobin
Publisher: Anchor
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  167 reviews
Sales Rank: 232
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 480
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 1400096790
Dewey Decimal Number: 347.7326
EAN: 9781400096794
Publication Date: September 9, 2008
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Product Description
In The Nine, acclaimed journalist Jeffrey Toobin takes us into the chambers of the most important—and secret—legal body in our country, the Supreme Court, revealing the complex dynamic among the nine people who decide the law of the land. An institution at a moment of transition, the Court now stands at a crucial point, with major changes in store on such issues as abortion, civil rights, and church-state relations. Based on exclusive interviews with the justices and with a keen sense of the Court’s history and the trajectory of its future, Jeffrey Toobin creates in The Nine a riveting story of one of the most important forces in American life today.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 162 more reviews...
 An intimate look at the diverse group of justices who have served our nation on the Supreme Court over the past two decades. September 18, 2007
287 out of 302 found this review helpful
Over the years any number of best selling books have been written about the U.S. Supreme Court. If you are an avid reader like myself then you have probably read a few of them. Of all of the books I have read on this subject I found Jeffrey Toobin's new offering "The Nine: Inside The Secret World of the Supreme Court" to be among the very best. As senior legal analyst for CNN and a staff writer for "The New Yorker" Jeffrey Toobin is uniquely qualified to tackle a topic that most Americans know precious little about and frankly find a bit mysterious. Like peeling the skin from an onion Toobin succeeds in revealing just who these justices are and how they have evolved over time. It is a fascinating study.
One notion that "The Nine" certainly reinforces is the conventional wisdom that says there really is no way of predicting how a judge is going to vote on controversial issues after receiving a lifetime appointment to the United States Supreme Court. While it seems that majority of justices remain true to their philosophies after being appointed to the Court, a fairly significant percentage of appointees veer off in totally unexpected directions. Throughout "The Nine" Jeffrey Toobin introduces us to the men and women who have served on the Court over the past two decades. Depending on your point of view you will find some of the justices extremely likeable and others enigmatic. You will also learn who the reliable liberal and conservative votes are and who tends to occupy the center. And Jeffrey Toobin spotlights a number of controversial 5-4 cases where those 1 or 2 "swing" votes would make all the difference.
It is quite apparent that Jeffrey Toobin is a huge fan of the recently retired justice Sandra Day O'Connor. In fact, on a couple of occasions he refers to her as "the most important woman in American history". Appointed by Ronald Reagan in September 1981 Sandra Day O'Connor would spend a quarter century on the bench and prove to be the swing vote in a myriad of important cases. Toobin also views Justice Stephen Breyer in a similarly favorable light. Over the past few years conservative politicians and voters alike have been extremely critical of what they perceive as a very disturbing new development at the Supreme Court. There is little doubt that a number of the justices have been increasingly influenced by both international law and by the decisions of courts in other nations in making their decisions and in writing their opinions. Indeed, the members of the Supreme Court find themselves sharply divided on this issue and Jeffrey Toobin explains which members buy into this approach and why. This is a trend that certainly bears watching.
"The Nine: Inside The Secret World of the Supreme Court" certainly qualifies as one of the best books I have read this year. Although Toobin displays his liberal leanings in some of his observations from time to time this is nonetheless an extremely well written, generally balanced and very informative book. Highly recommended!
Some Remarkable Insights into the Recent Supreme Court September 28, 2007
63 out of 71 found this review helpful
The last several years have delivered a rich harvest of outstanding studies of the Supreme Court. In addition to some highly technical works by political scientists, journalists have contributed studies of remarkable value and insight. I am thinking here of Greenburg's incisive "Supreme Conflict"; Greenhouse's biography of Justice Blackmun; and Biskupic's perceptive study of Justice O'Connor to name a few (not to mention Jeffrey Rosen -- who is a George Washington law professor but who also writes for the popular press and presents PBS programs as well). The good fortune of we "Court watchers" continues in this exceptionally discerning study by Jeffrey Toobin who writes for the "New Yorker" among other publications.
Toobin covers roughtly the period of 1992 through the 2006-07 term of the Court. His focus is similar to that of Jan Crawford Greenburg in "Supreme Conflict": the frustration of conservatives at their inability to secure a Court that would implement their agenda on abortion, public support of religion, and diminution of federalism despite a conservative majority on the Court. But as both books so well explain, all that changed with the coming of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito--as some recent decisions which Toobin discusses in his final chapters indicate. What is interesting is that the same members made up the Court between 1994 and 2005; yet the dynamics of decisionmaking changed dramatically.
To trace this evolution, Toobin discusses the Federalist Society; the Thomas nomination; the pragmatism of Justice O'Connor; Jay Sekulow and his "American Center for Law and Justice";and the perplexing Clinton White House nominations of Justices Ginsburg and Breyer. Toobin uses an effective technique of discussing each Justice in detail not all at the beginning of the book, but at the point in the narrative when that Justice is the central actor. Is is obvious that the author has had the assistance of several of the Justices (in this regard, the book reminds one a bit of "The Brethren") including I would surmise: O'Connor (extensively), Breyer, Souter, and possibly Stevens and even Kennedy. He also interviewed more than 75 law clerks. Hence, the reader is privy to some rather remarkable views of the Justices as seen by their fellows--a major strength of the book. Strangely enough, Chief Justice Rehnquist, whom one would assume would be a central character in this drama, earns relatively little attention. In fact, one of Toobin's most interesting assertions (along with the contention that Souter was close to resigning after Bush v. Gore) is that in the later years of his tenure, Rehnquist really lost his fire to remake law and became content to masterfully administer the Supreme and lower courts.
One section of the book is devoted to Bush v. Gore, a topic to which Toobin has devoted an entire book, and it is a superb analysis of that unfortunate episode. In the third section of the book, much attention is paid to Justice Kennedy, a puzzling character at times, but one who has assumed O'Connor's spot as the swing vote. Also of interest is O'Connor's growing frustration with Bush and the GOP, despite her central role in Bush v. Gore. The final section focuses upon the Bush White House and its maneuvers in filling the Rehnquist and O'Connor vacancies, another outstanding job by Toobin. The most interesting concept raised in this discussion is the Roberts' Court view of stare decisis--namely, does it still exist? Geoffrey Stone (former dean of the University of Chicago law school and provost at Chicago) has spoken eloquently and perceptively about this same phenomenon.
The book runs around 350 pages; it has a number of color photographs, 8 pages of notes, and a brief three-page bibliography. By any measure, Toobin has done as insightful and thorough a job in this study as one could imagine. The writing is crisp, does not bog down in legalistic details, and directs its focus where it should--the Justices as a small group together for the long haul and entrusted with making the most fundamental decisions of American democracy.
Well-Researched, Fascinating, and Important September 22, 2007
75 out of 92 found this review helpful
This is a well-written and well-documented look at our Supreme Court's decision making process. Toobin interviewed the Justices--and many of those who work with them--and has provided an important insight into the workings of this often-overlooked, but equally important and powerful, third branch of our government.
It's too bad that rightwing posters here have given this excellent book only one or two stars and (laughably) even characterize it as "far left" simply because the facts of how the Court works don't square with what they'd like people to believe. It's unfortunate for them, perhaps, but this is what research and journalism are supposed to do.
All in all, a great read--and an interesting behind-the-scenes look at a process that all Americans should know much more about--and pay much more attention to.
An Intriguing Examination Of Powerful Unknowns October 14, 2007
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
I've helped chaperone high school field trips to Washington, D.C. for a couple of years, and I always find the visit to the Supreme Court building one of the most impressive, but mysterious, parts of the journey. We sit in the dignified, somber, courtroom, hear guides tell us that the Justices are at that moment at work somewhere in the building, remember the historic decisions announced in that room, but we never see the Justices themselves or get any real sense of them as people. Now Jeffrey Toobin has provided a glimpse of these powerful, private people, the world they inhabit, and the challenges they face.
The Nine basically covers the last twenty years or so of Court history. Not only is it the story of the individuals who have sat on the Court during that time, it is also a chronicle of the ebb and flow of judicial philosophy. Beginning in the early 1980s, conservatives in this country began to work to resurrect "The Constitution in Exile," or the pre-New Deal welfare state status quo which had prevailed until the 1930s, and to put an end to the progressive/liberal dominance of the Court which had been entrenched since the 1950s. Toobin writes that that effort faltered, despite the overall rightward tilt of the legislative and executive branches in the 1980s and 1990s, because of the personalities of the Justices appointed during that period. His heroine is Sandra Day O'Connor, who became the true leader of the Court because of her determination to seek a common sense centrist position rather than adhere to rigid ideology.
Toobin gives us a good picture of each Justice's personality and habits. I already knew that some were more genial or ideological than others, but it was fascinating to read about their personal quirks and the interplay of their ideas when they meet with each other or work with their clerks. I found new respect and liking for some Justices with whom I disagree and more reasons to admire others whose decisions I generally support. I have no legal background, but I enjoyed and was able to follow the ins and outs of the legal arguments. I gained fresh insight into how decisions develop and how hard the Justices and their clerks work. Sadly, I also recognized anew that the Court can go terribly wrong, as in the rushed, partisan decision in Bush v. Gore. Toobin writes in the last chapter that "the Constitution in Exile" movement may have gained new influence with the Roberts and Alito appointments. His book will be an important resource for citizens watching Court decisions and trying to discern trends in coming years.
A Joy to Read March 21, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
The Nine leans a bit to the left, but is nonetheless insightful in its history of significant cases and the lives of each Supreme Court justice. Toobin's crafting of prose from his many interviews and secondary sources result in a book that is a joy to read. The Nine covers events in our recent history such as Bush v Gore in 2000 to the failure of Harriet Myers to gain the support needed to win over true conservatives and the Senate confirmation to the end of the 2006-2007 Supreme Court term under Chief Justice Roberts. I have come to know Toobin from the current presidential campaign as part of CNN's "best political team on television" but this book sets him apart from his political contemporaries as a true journalist and modern historian.
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