Saturday, September 28, 2013

Five Chiefs, John Paul Stevens

Five Chiefs: A Supreme Court Memoir by John Paul Stevens falls into the broad category of books about the Supreme Court. I'm interested in learning more and more about how the court works and this is part of the dip into understanding the court better. I picked up an audio version from the library to hear during my commute, but this book has been on my shelf for a while and the area has been a long term interest.

Started: 9/18/2013
Completed: 9/28/2013
Recommendation: Recommended, good insight into the court
Recommended By: I read a review of this book that recommended it as one for anyone who wanted to know more about the Court, but I cannot recall the source of that review, maybe the Washington Post

Review:

Justice Stevens does not stand out in my mind as an exceptional judge.  Having said that, he simply must be a fantastic judge to have made it to the Supreme Court.  I have read a few of his opinions and while I do not agree with all of them, I have always found his logic appealing.  As a result, I was looking forward to this insight into the court.  Justice Stevens does not tell you how the Court makes decisions, but he does give you insight into how the Court operates.  Of course, the memoir is his own and it is littered with his opinion (an opinion that somehow, reverberates) on a wide array of items.  It was stunning to me that he put so much time into the layout of tables in a general conference room, but perhaps it is this attention to detail that made him a good judge.  I'm glad I read this book, though, as I feel like I understand the man behind the opinions much better.  I would recommend that anyone interested in the Court from the perspective of one who served on it for quite some time,

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