Justice on the Brink, Linda Greenhouse

 

Justice on the Brink: The death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, the rise of Amy Coney Barrett, and twelve months that transformed the Supreme Court by Linda Greenhouse was found at a local book store and the title just grabbed me.

Started: 5/16/2022
Completed: 11/11/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

protean -- tending or able to change frequently or easily

Review:

Greenhouse is a master of both the Supreme Court itself and it's rulings.  She set the scene well, drove me through the congressional hearings and then leapt onto the decisions.  Her analysis of the decisions was lucid, useful, and insightful.  I have to admit that I have always looked at the Court as addressing each case on its own merits.  Greenhouse, however, makes a compelling case that often Justices use one case to set the stage for another and that Justices have an agenda which they nudge along case-by-case building up case law so that their desired outcome appears both consistent with historical judgements and inevitable.  I think that this book will serve as a reference for me out into the future.