Book 12: The Nine

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin is mostly about the O'Connor era, but includes a summary of the nominations and hearings of Harriet Miers, John Roberts, and Samuel Alito.

It's an enjoyable read, with Toobin describing the personalities and foibles of each of the justices. It's probably a little slanted to the left, but you know Toobin is part of the Liberal Media, so that shouldn't be a big shock. :)

An interesting fact: 5 current justices are Catholic: Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, and Alito. Remember when JFK was a controversial presidential candidate because he was Catholic? Why aren't we afraid of the Pope anymore? Toobin does not address this question.

O'Connor once visited a court in India and was surprised that the lawyers were citing her own judicial opinion from a U.S. case, debating what she meant by it. She started to realize then that we could look to other countries' laws sometimes, too. (This almost makes Scalia's head explode every time it's mentioned. NO ONE will influence us! We're the influencer!)

It is interesting to note that the U.S. is the only country that officially sanctions the executions of minors. Since 1990, the only other countries which have executed minors are: China, Congo, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Generally, we believe we have a very different ideology from those countries, so it is meaningful (and unappealing) to be lumped together with them (and ONLY them) on this issue.

I laughed several times while reading this book, mostly at the descriptions of the justices' personalities. It was educational (I did not realize how much James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, had dictated the new, ultra-conservative ideology of G.W. Bush's party.) Harriet Miers withdrew herself from consideration as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice because Dobson, et. al did not believe she was conservative enough!



Now I'm ready for something more fun.