The Nine: A Review

Well, I just finished The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin. It was good and I recommend it to people that are familiar/interested with the Justices on the Supreme Court. Couple of things I would say about it. First, I learned a lot about the Justices that I did not know, especially some of the lesser known Justices like Breyer and Souter. I learned some addition things about the Clarence Thomas nomination. I have a deeper respect (if possible) for Justice O'Conner. I will say I thought a little too much attention was focused on abortion. I thought it did a decent job on Lawrence v. Texas. I thought it could have done a better job on U.S. v. Lopez. I thought he could have spent a little more time on the recent affirmative action cases. And, I really didn't understand the point of the last chapter. 

Lastly, I think Toobin overestimates the coming conservative revolution on the court. I still think Justice Kennedy, as the swing vote, will be somewhat unpredictable going forward. Further, while I think it is a safe bet that Justice Alito will continue to be very conservative, I am not sure Justice Roberts will be as reliable.