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The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court
by: Bob Woodward, Scott Armstrong

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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 347.7326
EAN: 9780743274029
ISBN: 0743274024
Label: Simon & Schuster
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 592
Publication Date: July 01, 2005
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Sales Rank: 9800
Studio: Simon & Schuster

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Product Description:
The Brethren is the first detailed behind-the-scenes account of the Supreme Court in action. Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong have pierced its secrecy to give us an unprecedented view of the Chief and Associate Justices -- maneuvering, arguing, politicking, compromising and making decisions that affect every major area of American life.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Crazy Old Men? A clerk's eye view.

I have become interested lately in the various opinions handed down by the Supreme Court in the Guantanamo habeas corpus cases. I was particularly surprised by the vehemence of the dissenting opinions expressed. This lead me to this book, to find out more. Published in 1979, it documents the internal workings, decision making and rivalries in the Supreme Court between the years 1968 and 1975. The activist Chief Justice Warren resigned at the start of this time, and the remainder of his colleagues moved towards retirement, replaced by Nixon appointees. The Court's more controversial cases in this time dealt with segregation, abortion and Watergate.

They say that no man is a hero to his butler, and I think this book provides a law clerk's eye view of the workings of the court and the interactions of the justices. Each year, each justice hires three (more recently four) law clerks to help with ... Read More

Rating:

- Constitutional law (little) -- Moral judgements (plenty) -- Office politics (lots)
So, you say you want to understand what CONSTITUTIONAL basis the Supreme Court's decisions stand upon? --- You won't find much of that here.

Maybe you want to know the MORAL basis of all those famous Supreme Court decisions? --- This book's got it covered.

Or maybe you just want to read about the juicy OFFICE POLITICS between the Supreme's. --- Bingo.

Rating:

- Great research, good effort, reads like the Washington Post
Depth: B
Style: C
Content: B
Research: A
Historical Impact: D

Woodward and Armstrong write a tale of 7 years and 14 Supreme Court judges. To actually write the book, and to access dozens of law clerks and judges, and to amass huge documentation is in itself the feat of the book. The Supreme Court has been the most sheltered of all public institutions with only trifles of coverage before. The book does portray the quirks of the judges, the key decisions of each year, the infighting and the peculiarities of an institution founded on politics yet delivering fundamental cultural dictates.

W and A fall down on two points - first, this is not a history book, but a retro-newspaper account. The two can't help but fall into the mode of journalists (which they tacitly state in the intro). This is not a book by Foote, Sandburg, Tuchman, or any other great historian.
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Rating:

- Good Behind The Scene Coverage
I found The Brethren to be quite informative as well as entertaining as I was provided a glimpse of the personalities and quirks of Justices and the Politicians that interacted with them. Seeing behind the somber facades allowed the reader to consider each Justice as an individual with his own biases and beliefs that came into play when many of this country's landmark decisions were made.

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