Reddit reviews The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court
We found 5 Reddit comments about The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
>What about readings like The Federalist Papers
Don't be that guy. Seriously.
Have you read The Nine by Jeffery Toobin? (he's an attorney and supreme court historian for The New Yorker) He lays out a pretty good argument for the court having entered an ideological era (bush v. gore - present) where their decisions are basically just the political will of their appointers. I'm pretty much inclined to (mostly) agree with him. I don't think it's unfortunate people acknowledge this as something that exists to a certain extent.
That said, the court still at least tries to play within precedent and congressional intent so I think the community could probably say "hey, these are the boundaries the court operates within and here are the spots we think they'll do some mental gymnastics to get to the decision the 5-4 split wants." Of course Kennedy could come down either way, but he sounded... well, senile during oral arguments. I think he asked a question about tort law at one point which makes me think he's not even sure where he is anymore.
I would recommend brushing up on American History. That was the one thing I played catch-up on. It’s amazing how much it helps when reading cases. The historical context and political climate will often help you make sense of a ruling that otherwise seems completely arbitrary. I spent much of my “free” time reading books about historical events and found it to be very helpful. If you want books that are law related, but not necessarily about law, I loved The Nine and Ivy Briefs. Don't worry too much about knowing legal stuff beforehand, you don't want to start school burnt out and stressed out, let your professors take care of that for you.
I was just thinking about that, too. It's crazy how many 5-4 decisions. Jeffery Toobin talks a little about it in his book The Nine a good read if this kind of thing interests you.
I really enjoyed The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin