Scan barcode
judyward's review
4.0
From the moment Chief Justice John Roberts swore in President Barack Obama in January 2009, there has been a confrontational relationship between the White House and the Supreme Court. Jeffrey Toobin believes that the basis of the hostility between the President and the Chief Justice is that one is a constitutional conservative and one one is a constitutional radical. And, in his view, it is the President who is essentially conservative on constitutional issues believing in pragmatism, compromise, and incremental change. In Toobin's view, Chief Justice Roberts want to lead a Supreme Court willing to overturn decades of decisions, ignore precedent, and undo many of the reforms reaching back to the New Deal. The high point of this conflict was in the 2011-2012 term when the challenge to the President's health-care legislation was heard by the justices. And, surprisingly, it was the Chief Justice's vote that upheld the constitutionality of that legislation. Toobin examines why Roberts voted to affirm and concludes that he is taking the long view and he wanted to keep the Supreme Court out of the 2012 election so that the Justices could renew their agenda later. The character sketches of the Justices on the Supreme Court both past and present drawn by Toobin contain some of the most fascinating portions of the book. A highly readable discussion of recent Supreme Court decisions.
alainaskalski's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
Great look at the Supreme Court during the beginning of the Obama years. There is some duplication from The Nine, also wish the book covered all of the Obama years, but it was written earlier. Audio.
bravelass85's review
4.0
This is my second book by Toobin and I really enjoy his writing style. I read this book in about two days on vacation and couldn't put it down. I appreciate his ability to bring in a lot of information without weighing the narrative down, and while it is definitely mass-market oriented, I feel like I am learning about the essential reasoning and effect behind Supreme Court decisions (even if I don't leave an expert on the topic after reading his books).
stumolan's review
4.0
Phenomenal analysis of the modern Supreme Court and its relationship to the Obama White House, similar to Bob Woodward's "The Brethren." The changing ways in which the Court is becoming even more politicized as compared to previous generations is important, as is the reality that the conservative block of the Court is engaged in a judicial activist regime.
devinpreads's review
2.0
A ton is almost word-for-word what he wrote in his previous book, if I didn't read them back to back it may not have been as much of a bother, but as a quarter of this book I read the day before, it's annoying
gracewiley's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
Not quite as good as The Nine, but still an interesting look at SCOTUS.
nellybly's review
4.0
I love Jeffrey Toobin and I love the Supreme Court so I obviously enjoyed this very much.