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.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Great for Law Students:
I happen to pick up Jeffrey Toobin's The Nine just after completing Constitutional Law in law school. What a great companion this book was to the class. The book explores the stories behind many of the major cases learned in law school. It not succinctly summarizes the law, but far more interesting is the insights it gives to the justices' individual motivations and their efforts to bring other justices on to their opinions. The conventional view of the court is that it is apolitical and unconcerned with... more info
good background knowledge. very quick read:
This is one of the unusual book that I managed to finish reading in two days. The author provided good balance of theorectical legal discussion, justices' personality/background and Washington politics/gossips. The shortcoming of such quantity of information is that the content is only sufficient to entertain readers who don't have much basic knowledge of the Supreme Court, like me. (I tend to read the business or foreign section of newspaper, but skip news related to legal issues). Potential reader... more info
A very readable overview of the Rehnquist court:
THE NINE is a very readable synopsis of the members and inner workings of The Supreme Court under Rehnquist's leadership. Each judge is examined in some detail with much of the focus falling on the star of this court, O'Connor. The overall scope of the book does not lends itself to an in depth examination of any particular judge or case; instead it's main function is to provide the reader with a concise breakdown of The Court's recent history and as such it serves its purpose well. For the reader with... more info
It All Boils Down to Ideology:
It is understandable why Mr. Toobin's "The Nine" received so many kudos and vaulted onto numerous book critics' top-ten list for the year. Like three of his earlier works pertaining to the OJ Simpson trial, President Clinton's impeachment fiasco and the 2000 Florida recount catastrophe, the author has produced a knowledgable and engrossing book about the Supreme Court. I have always been perplexed and discouraged about the near total indifference by many voters when it comes to a potential President's... more info
