lpm100's profile picture

lpm100's review

0.25
medium-paced

Book Review
9 Black Robes
1/5 stars
"Agitprop by partisan hack" 
*******
Of the book: 

-12 chapters over 327 pages. 28 pages per. 
-Indexed
-About 609 point citations
-Mostly to CNN and New York Times articles.

If you are looking for a review and discussion of the Court's jurisprudence, you will not find it here. 

This is a very breathless, melodramatic book (which I would not have purchased had I known it was written by a CNN correspondent) that "takes a jar of pins and a spool of string to create an eye-catching conspiracy web." 
And just in case it was not clear enough, there are:

1. Russian fingerprints on every fifth page, 
2. "White nationalists" every 5th or 6th page,
3. Almost all of the citations are to CNN / New York Times articles. But very few to actual Court opinions (which regularly run into the hundreds of pages)
**
Fact 1: Justices rule unanimously about 90% of the time.

Fact 2: Even though everyone talks about the court being "bitterly divided" on this or that issue, no one knows the internal deliberations of the court. And so anything else is speculation. (How many articles talk about the court being "bitterly divided,"  or a justice "writing bitterly"? I think that "bitter" is the most frequent and overused adjective in any discussion of the Supreme Court) 

Scalia and Ginsburg were actually great friends in real life, even though on opposite ends of the court. 

Fact 3: Democrats have strategies in order to try to win control of the government. (For example, unchecked immigrants are meant to be future Democratic voters.) 

So, Republicans/conservatives are also allowed to strategize, and in this case it looks like they outfoxed competitors to be able to control all three branches of government. 

What is sauce for the goose cannot be sauce for the gander, if you take this author seriously. 

In reality, if somebody is fighting for control of a 28 trillion dollar economy then that fight has the potential to be extremely ugly.

And the bad part is that this book was written before the return of Trump to the White House, in which case future events were beyond this author's wildest dreams. 

Verdict: 

Not recommended. Because the information is dated, and entirely too partisan. 

This is $8.29 that I will never get back.

Also, the justices are prolific writers and if someone wants to get an idea of their jurisprudence, he can read their own books. (I've read 4 at this point: 1. My Grandfather's Son. Thomas. 2. My Own Words. Ginsburg. 3. The Majesty of the Law. O'Connor. 4. A Republic If You Can Keep It. Gorsuch.)

And as I look, books have been written by: Barrett, Gorsuch, Sotomayor, and Jackson. 

(This author has also written books about Roberts, Sotomayor, Scalia, and O'Connor. But, with this piss poor showing, I will never get around to reading any of them.)

kaitlynkline's review

5.0

Biskupic’s research, interviewing, and critical analysis makes this one of the most valuable and insightful reads on the modern Supreme Court available. Her careful investigation on cross examination of the ins and outs of the recent additions to the court and the shift in ideological make up are excellent. Truly, this book answers many questions about what to continue to expect from this set of nine justices led by Chief Justice John Roberts. Reading this as new rulings came out in June of 2023, it almost felt as though Biskupic’s writing was going to continue into real-time to provide background information and historical context of the current cases. My new top recommendation for all things Supreme Court.

gmeluski's review

4.0

Claims of high integrity and lack of political motivation should be met with skepticism as a rule, and I think this book provides the grounding for such skepticism in regards to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court has been yoked to the desires of a conservative and religious minority, and the content makes it evident the newer justices rule upon ideological preference rather than the law itself. C'est la vie?
informative medium-paced
wintendo64's profile picture

wintendo64's review

4.0

Absolutely recommend the audiobook the narrator is fantastic.This is a pretty great summary on the past couple decades of the US Supreme Court. I really appreciated the in depth look into each sitting justice, their history, and insight for each individual. This was super informative and even if you've been reading the news for years and know all these cases and stories. There's so much details that the headlines and articles passed over and provided me with new perspectives. If you haven't been keeping up with the news, this is a great catch up on everything you've missed.
challenging informative slow-paced

dresden53's review

3.75
informative medium-paced

blckngld18's review

4.0
informative reflective medium-paced
alexerix's profile picture

alexerix's review

4.0

The dynamics between these old nerds are so much more complex than I assumed
informative medium-paced