Editor Reviews:

Book Description:

Bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin takes you into the chambers of the most important—and secret—legal body in our country, the Supreme Court, and reveals the complex dynamic among the nine people who decide the law of the land.

Just in time for the 2008 presidential election—where the future of the Court will be at stake—Toobin reveals an institution at a moment of transition, when decades of conservative disgust with the Court have finally produced a conservative majority, with major changes in store on such issues as abortion, civil rights, presidential power, and church-state relations.

Based on exclusive interviews with justices themselves, The Nine tells the story of the Court through personalities—from Anthony Kennedy's overwhelming sense of self-importance to Clarence Thomas's well-tended grievances against his critics to David Souter's odd nineteenth-century lifestyle. There is also, for the first time, the full behind-the-scenes story of Bush v. Gore—and Sandra Day O'Connor's fateful breach with George W. Bush, the president she helped place in office.

The Nine is the book bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin was born to write. A CNN senior legal analyst and New Yorker staff writer, no one is more superbly qualified to profile the nine justices.

Rating : - Biased or not . . .
Toobin has written in "The Nine" a look at the Supreme Court as most of us have known it, or at least with the Justices we have known. He gives background on where each came from and how they came to be nominated. He discusses the cases on which they ruled and how those rulings have or will affect the laws of this country for some time to come. That he has some prejudices for liberals and against conservatives is clear. However, it's moderates that he praises most and in the Supreme Court, it seems that we have few liberals, and fewer moderates. Much of what he says about the cases can be proved or disproved by simply researching them and their precedents.

What citizens see of the Supreme Court in this book, and what we can see in Washington these days, is a polarization that is both frightening and counter-productive for our country. One of the more important points Toobin gives us in his story is that nothing is written in stone when it comes to our laws in general, particularly when it comes to laws protecting women's rights. If readers believe this book leans a little too much to the left, they should find another that leans a bit to the right, and if they are truly interested in the truth, they should go further and seek out a work that is strongly placed in the center. No one book can give the whole truth, and it's up to us to look at both sides of the issue.

Regardless of where the reader's sympathies and loyalties lie, Toobin gives a good starting place for understanding those who rule on our country's laws, and where their decisions may come from. It is unfortunate that those decisions are not based on blind justice. As interesting as it is, however, there are few places in which Toobin is more than a little obscure and his point is difficult to ferret out. A little more editing would have helped in those areas. In all, though, the book is very readable and should send us all to the book shelves for more information. After all, the general population has to live with what these nine decide, for good or ill.