Biskupic, an accomplished and well-sourced journalist, knows the court as well as anyone now covering it ... The deeper message of Nine Black Robes is that even with a new president in office we remain captive to the Age of Trump. His influence lives on, Biskupic suggests, in the court itself ... A quiet urgency ripples through this informative, briskly paced and gracefully written book.
Biskupic opens a window onto the opaque, insular world of the justices to show an institution sinking gradually into crisis ... Biskupic is a longtime chronicler of the court, and Nine Black Robes puts on display her connections within its chambers. The book is packed with references to insights shared with her by unnamed justices. She reveals the deliberations and negotiations that took place behind the scenes in a number of high-profile cases.
Nine Black Robes is well researched. Biskupic plumbs the papers of the late William Brennan, a liberal appointed by Dwight D Eisenhower in 1956. But her book also contains more than its fair share of chambers chatter ... Biskupic captures the unease of some court members at being used as props by Trump.
Ms. Biskupic spoke with 'a majority of the justices,' meaning at least some of the court’s conservatives politely sat for her questions. After using the book to opine that the court is 'off the rails,' 'going backward,' 'laying waste to precedents' and so on, you wonder if she’ll be allowed back into their chambers ... Ms. Biskupic too often airs her own dissenting opinions ... Worse, because it’s harder to detect, the book is often an unreliable guide to legal cases ... Casual readers might acquire a worse understanding of some cases than before, which is too bad, since the raw materials are free to read and hardly inaccessible.
An up-to-the-minute, laser-focused examination of the Court as a whole during what is arguably its most contentious and controversial iteration to date ... Devoted Court-watchers will devour this behind-the-scenes expose.
A thorough analysis ... Biskupic thoroughly analyzes the headline cases and provides background on the rise of the Federalist Society, the role of White House counsel Don McGahn, and more. Comprehensive and accessible, this is a valuable overview of a profound shift in American jurisprudence.
