Cary Neeper's Blog: Reviewing World-changing Nonfiction - Posts Tagged "law"

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin, New York, Anchor Books, 2007,8.
A legal analyst on CNN, a master storyteller, and a historian is Jeffrey Toobian, staff writer for The New Yorker. He begins by taking us up the magnificent staircase of the new (in 1928) Supreme Court Building, “…a physical manifestation of the American March to justice,” he says.

Our hopes and fears for justice rise and fall as he reviews the personalities, the convictions, and the lives of the justices, the decisions they make, and the opinions they wrote.

Soon we begin to know the justices as brilliant legal experts dealing with personal challenges as well as the major intellectual puzzles that the court demands. How do we interpret the Constitution—as an aging guide for a changing world or as sacred words to be taken literally as expressed in their time?

With a mystery-writer’s skill, Toobin reviews the justices’ thinking, even some changes in their opinions. Who will act as the swing vote now that O’ Conner has retired? Will anyone look to Europe or to worldviews, or is that still off limits? How will a new member change the orientation of the entire court, which was swinging to the right in 2008 when this book was published?

His story has continued into the Obama years with The Oath: The Obama White House and the Court “The Roberts Court has put itself squarely at the center.” Stay tuned. Toobin is worth reading as our current drama unfolds.

The author is President of the Nonpartisan Policy Alliance and has worked as a policy analyst for a Washington DC think tank. He advises representatives and lobbies Congress on behalf of American workers.

A critical point he makes is that “It is imperative that we enact the Secure Elections Act as as soon as possible. It makes clear that every state retains authority over their election process. A note by Sarbanes was posted online in February that the SAFE bill passed the House. But  ”For months, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans have refused to allow a vote on any of these critical election security bills.”A Google search found that nothing else has been done.

Lorenz notes that there is the Problem Solver Caucus within the House of Representatives, founded in January of 2017 to “seek common ground between the parties.”The news this month indicates they have not been successful.

The author of this small book ends by listing “Actions You Can Take” He urges moderates in both parties to work to counter the active faction of extremists in both parties” He concludes: “…we must abandon our misguided allegiance to candidates and political parties. As Americans we pledge allegiance to our flag, not our leaders….they must always be questioned, criticized and held accountable. Our loyalty must be to our country and to the policies that will advance our economic, technological and financial security, not to any individual or party.”