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    The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court
    Unavailable
    The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court
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    The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court
    Audiobook15 hours

    The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court

    Written by Jeffrey Toobin

    Narrated by Don Leslie

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin takes you into the chambers of 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 the 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 Toobin was born to write. He is a bestselling author, a CNN senior legal analyst, and New Yorker staff writer. No one is more superbly qualified to profile the nine justices.


    From the Compact Disc edition.

    Editor's Note

    Behind the court…

    Jeffrey Toobin’s magisterial book sheds light on the machinations behind the Supreme Court’s curtains, offering insight into how one justice can affect the nation’s laws for years to come.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateSep 18, 2007
    ISBN9781415942345
    Unavailable
    The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court
    Author

    Jeffrey Toobin

    Jeffrey Toobin is the New York Times bestselling author of American Heiress, The Oath, The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, Too Close to Call, A Vast Conspiracy, The Run of His Life: The People vs. O.J. Simpson, and Opening Arguments. A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, he lives with his family in New York.

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    Reviews for The Nine

    4/5

    36 ratings29 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I listened to the audiobook and think it was very well done. This is something I never would have picked up as a book so I am pleased there is an audio version. I learned a tremendous amount about how the Court functions - something I had never really thought about since 9th grade civics class. The in depth reasoning behind decisions was informative and gave me things to think about. As for the personalities and politics, well they are pretty inescapable. I appreciated the detail the author provided about these aspects as he intertwined these issues with the eventual decisions of the Court.
    • 3/5
      Not bad but Bob Woodward's The Brethren is much its superior.
    • 4/5
      Reviews the recent history of the Supreme Court. The first few chapters seem to be disjointed - no sense of organization. The last half of the book is much better as it reviews the election of 2000 and the swing of the court to the right.
    • 4/5
      Despite its title, this book lacks much HOT JUSTICE-ON-JUSTICE action. However, dirty ol' Clarence Thomas notwithstanding, it's a pretty fascinating! I was so engrossed in the nomination of Ruth Bader Ginsberg (did everyone else know that Mario Cuomo was supposed to get her seat? !!!) while I was supposed to be watching my daughter and her next-door friend play hide-and-seek, that I had to take said friend home with a big Band-Aid leaking blood. I blame all my poor parenting on the Supreme Court, but usually it's Antonin Scalia that bears the brunt.
    • 4/5
      Jeffrey Toobin is my new hero. What a great book! I hope he writes a follow up on the changes since Alito and Roberts.
    • 4/5
      Detailed, thoughtful examination of the Supreme Court written in Toobin's reassuring, assertive, slightly clunky prose. Toobin doesn't have much of the searing lightning-in-brain virtuoso clarity of some of his fellow New Yorker writers (see: ETERNAL SWOONING OVER GOUREVITCH, LEVY) but he's got a plodding persistent workmanship that hammers together a (mostly) convincing -- if a little one-dimensional and ham-fisted at times -- portrait of a very human, very political Court.
    • 3/5
      This was a fascinating revelation about the personalities of the justices--and an even more reveling portrait about the supreme importance politics now plays in determining how the Court votes. This book makes a strong case that it no longer matters what the law may or may not indicate, and that past decisions needn't be bothered with. All that matters is what the political agenda is of the party in power (The President, who does the nominating) because the justices will twist the law into whatever shape necessary to make the cases come out in the direction of the that party.Whatever your philosophy, you'll find something in this non-fiction book to make you gasp at how things have turned out historically, and then probably get your dander up about the way things are going.
    • 3/5
      This has been one of the most difficult books for me read and review. Toobin has written a book filled with factual data, and for that I would give him 5 stars; but Toobin has editorialized at excessive length allowing no misunderstandings of how he felt about each of the Justices or the results of the cases that decided. This is, of course, the perrrogative of an author. Still, as stated, it was a difficult book to read and review. It is certainly written in a good style, that is informal and it is also a quick read. His descriptions of the cases are very well done. It is just unfortunate that he politicized the work
    • 4/5
      very interesting. If you want to know more about our supreme court it is a recommended read.
    • 5/5
      I guess I was in the mood to read about the inner workings of our government. I couldn't put this book down. The Nine is the story of the Supreme Court justices who have served on the court in the last twenty years. The brightest minds and most thoughtful judges in the country are not always chosen. Instead, wisdom is sacrified for political opinion. I was most aghast at Clarence Thomas. He rarely speaks and often votes alone, as he tends to hold opinions held by almost no one else. Not only that, but he repudiates the very system, racial quotas, that got him where he is today. I was most taken with the story of Sandra Day O'Connor who went from being a nobody judge with strikingly conservative opinions to a moderate who listened to the voice of the American people when trying to make a decision. One of my favorite reads of the year.
    • 5/5
      I've always enjoyed Toobin's writing in the New Yorker. So, I wasn't surprised that I really liked this book. He goes inside the Supreme Court -- by talking to the justices themselves and to many of their law clerks. What comes out is a lively story about both the process and the personalities involved. He explains how the notion (fairly recent) of "originalism" (that the meaning of the constitution was fixed forever at the time it was written) came to be so popular with conservative judges like Antonin Scalia.I'm no fan of Mr. Scalia, but Mr. Toobin actually made him seem human. He even had kind words to say about Justice Clarence Thomas. With a mix of political types in my non-fiction readers' group, discussion of The Nine was lively -- and remained quite civil.01/22/2010
    • 5/5
      This book is a fairly thorough look at the modern Supreme Court. It focused on the major cases and the personalities of the justices. The author shows how politics did influence the court and how the various Presidential administrations clashed with members of the court. This book shows to the reader that the personalities of the justices does matter because it does affect how they rule on various cases.This is a great read and it is very enlightening. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to learn more about the supreme court.
    • 5/5
      Excellent, brilliant, great that it's actually about the law as well as the personalities. I got it from the library but I have to own it. I find constitutional law fascinating, and the multiple interpretations and manipulations can be so frustrating if you disagree with the outcome; brilliant if you agree. great job toobin
    • 4/5
      This book gives a thorough view of the Rehnquist court, the appointments, rulings, and personalities. Based on reviews I have seen, your appreciation and rating for the book may depend on your politics and how you interpret the facts presented. I did not find the book as slanted as many others seemed to.I learned a good deal about the members of the court, their backgrounds and motivations, and found it to be a worthwhile read. I will not comment further because I don't believe in using book reviews for political soapboxes.
    • 4/5
      A thoroughly enlightening look at the Rehnquist Court and how politics and presidents, by their appointments to the Court, affect the outcome of Supreme Court decisions. Anyone wanting to read this account should probably keep in mind that the slant of the narrative seems to have a very liberal tone.
    • 2/5
      Jeffrey Toobin spends most of the book on a left wing ultra libaral tirade against the current administration. It did contain some interesting points about the current court, however, Mr Toobin spends the majority of the book on a seemingly personal vendetta against President Bush and any conservitive in site. I would like to have had a more balanced look at the court, alas this is not that book.
    • 4/5
      While I mostly found the book to be an enjoyable, interesting read, I was really surprised by the poor editing. There were a number of errors, like repeated anecdotes, that stood out.
    • 4/5
      Very readable; entertaining anecdotes about the personal quirks of the justices and fascinating accounts of how the current justices were chosen; the portrayal of some of the justices, such as O'Connor, seemed a bit self-serving, probably as a result of personal interviews he had with her. Overall a great read.
    • 5/5
      The standard against which all books about the Supreme Court should be measured is Woodward’s “The Brethren” – in particular, if said book purports to talk from “inside the secret world”. Woodward’s book was a success because of the situation (inside information at a time when the country was facing an uncommon crisis) as much as it was for his talent (a compelling story while keeping a relatively neutral tone.)So, let’s put Toobin’s book up against that standard. It is a compelling story. It does a good job of introducing us to the various individuals that made up the Supreme Court during the longest period without a change in personnel in the history of the 9-justice court. And there is no doubt that the time period is a crucial point in US history with such events as the Iraq War and the 2000 election. And there is quite a bit of insider information – although it doesn’t feel as immediate as Woodward’s book. Just when it feels like we are about to learn the real inner workings of the court, the book doesn’t quite make it there. But where the book really falls short in comparison is that neutrality issue. As the book begins talking about the introduction of the new justices (Roberts and Alito), Toobin’s concerns begin to become apparent. There is no doubt that he is writing from the left and, no matter how he might try to see both sides, his leanings shade the book at times when you wish it didn’t. There is no doubt that the court shifted to the right, and the way that shift occurred may be, well, shifty. But journalism (and I take this book as a piece of journalism) shouldn’t be about getting that agenda into writing. Most of this book is good enough that the reader can draw his or her own conclusions. As they say in the court – res ipsa loquitor.
    • 4/5
      The book's underlying premise is that, since the Regan Administration, the Federalist Society has waged a largely successful campaign to move the Supreme Court to the right. In spite of his bias, Mr. Toobin's book is an interesting read with profiles of all of the Justices since Rehnquist's appointment as Chief Justice and backgrounds to a number of prominent cases.The decision I found most interesting was Casey in 1992. According to Mr. Toobin the Justices in the Casey decision came very close to effectively overturning Roe V Wade. Penning what was to be the majority opinion, Rehnquist wrote "The court was mistaken in Roe when it classified a woman's decision to terminate her pregnancy as a 'fundamental right'". David Souter engineered Roe's salvation by forming a coalition, first with O'Connor and then with Kennedy to uphold most of the provisions of the Pennsylvania law while still retaining a woman's right to choose.The Nine is readable, entertaining and informative.
    • 4/5
      This book was excellent. Toobin writes nonfiction with flare. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the Supreme Court!
    • 4/5
      Very fluid. Opens up a world you hear or read about very rarely, aside from the court's decisions. Makes me wonder why there's no C-Span allowed for the Supreme Court.
    • 4/5
      I honestly did not think I would love this book as much as I did given that my biggest concern in life is what Bush the Younger has done to the Court with his radical right appointments but I couldn't put it down. I have to say that I now have a better understanding of Scalia's and Thomas' stand - I don't agree with it any more than I did before reading but it as least makes a bit more sense than it did before I read Toobin's description. This book is not just for policy wonks and lawyers, Toobin has written a very accessible and interesting (maybe even entertaining) behind the scenes look at the Supreme Court.
    • 5/5
      Toobin benefits from extraordinary access to a fascinating topic, but on top of this he writes grippingly and provides insight. Benchmark investigative non-fiction.
    • 5/5
      Books about constitutional law and court cases can be abstruse or fascinating, and this book definitely falls into the latter camp. Toobin does a terrific job of weaving the stories of the personalities of the recent Supreme Court into a review of the decisions they have handled. In particular, he focuses on cases challenging Roe v. Wade, affirmative action, gay rights, executive privilege, and other issues that now divide the country.Toobin maintains that the Constitution’s flexibility allows ideology to trump precedent. He avers “…when it comes to the incendiary matters that come before the Court, what matters is not the quality of arguments but the identity of the Justices.” Therefore, he concludes, “one factor only will determine the future of the Supreme Court: the outcome of presidential elections.” He explains how and why each of the recent Justices got the presidential nomination, and what the appointments have meant for the Court and the Country.It is downright scary to hear Toobin’s story of how the far right, through such organizations as the Federalist Society, has successfully pushed its agenda onto the Court. Sandra Day O’Connor’s abhorrence of the direction taken by the Republican party helped push her to the left of where she started out. As a result, she took a key role in tipping decisions 5-4 toward the more liberal end of the spectrum. When she left the Court to take care of her ailing husband, the only person remaining who was even close to the “middle” was Anthony Kennedy. Justice Kennedy, however, tends to side with the conservative side of the Court.Toobin has wonderful anecdotes to share about the Justices, although he clearly knows more about those who have been there the longest. And he didn’t seem to have many insights into the character of Clarence Thomas. But the information he does have on the Justices is riveting, and Toobin’s writing is clear, sharp, and consistently entertaining.Verdict: Read this book!(JAF)
    • 3/5
      Interesting read about the inner workings of the Supreme Court. Toobin really lets us get to know the justices individually and see how their personalities influence their decisions on the Court.
    • 3/5
      For the most part, I liked the book, especially the descriptions of the personal quirks of the justices. The thought of Clarence Thomas trucking around the country in a big RV cracked me up, but also felt somehow like he's found a great way to talk to real people instead of the usual DC crowd. I'll have to ask my parents to keep an eye out for him on their trips!The book does have some flaws. Toobin decided to orient chapters around cases and issues instead of strict chronological order, so there's some jumping around in time that gets confusing in spots where the cases he's discussing overlap in time. His analysis of the cases seems shallow to me, but in fairness, detailed analysis isn't the point of the book. And he seems overly enamored of some justices - Sandra Day O'Connor can do little wrong, it seems. Finally, it just felt like this work was quickly tossed off to meet a deadline.Decent read, but I'm probably not going to go searching out any of his other works.
    • 5/5
      Excellent study of current Supreme Court Justices
    • 5/5
      I have always been fascinated with the Supreme Court. Toobin has put together a highly readable portrait of the justices and how it has evolved over time. It is one part of the presidential election that few people take notice of, yet, in many ways it affects their life the most.