The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court by Bob Woodward (PDF)

Description

The Brethren is the first detailed behind-the-scenes account of the Supreme Court in action.Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong have pierced its secrecy to give us an unprecedented view of the Chief and Associate Justices—maneuvering, arguing, politicking, compromising, and making decisions that affect every major area of American life.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “Explosive…The most controversial book on the Supreme Court yet written.” — Los Angeles Times Book Review”Fascinating. The pace is swift, with details that rivet the attention.” — The Washington Post Book World”A provocative book about a hallowed institution…It is the most comprehensive inside story ever written of the most important court in the world. For this reason alone it is required reading.” — BusinessWeek”It is to the credit of Woodward and Armstrong that they were willing — and able — to shatter this conspiracy of silence. It is certainly in the highest tradition of investigative journalism.” — Saturday Review”One hell of a reporting achievement.” — The Village Voice”The year’s best political book.” — New York Post About the Author Bob Woodward is an associate editor at The Washington Post where he has worked for 50 years. He has shared in two Pulitzer Prizes, one for his Watergate coverage and the other for coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He has authored 20 national bestselling books, 14 of which have been #1 New York Times bestsellers.Scott Armstrong is executive director of the Information Trust. A former reporter for The Washington Post, he founded the National Security Archive and was a senior investigator for the Senate Watergate Committee.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐efficient service and accurate

⭐This book might seem dated: it describes the machinations of the court from 1969 to 1976, which included, among other things, Roe v. Wade and the Watergate tapes case. However, it is far from obsolete. The Brethren is a still-unprecedented look into the Supreme Court, the most secretive top-level branch of government. Although the faces (save one) and the cases are different, the way in which cases are decided by this body has likely not, plus it is a look at a tumultous time in ours as well as the Court’s history.The focus of the story is Chief Justice Warren Earl Burger, who replaces Earl Warren after his retirement. The irony of the names is unexplored, but it is appropriate, because Burger becomes progressively preoccupied with trying to match Warren’s legacy. Unlike Warren, though, he allows political concerns and vanity to influence his judgment and, bit by bit, erode the confidence of his colleagues, to the point where the late William Rehnquist, then a young conservative on the Court, makes fun of him behind his back. Although this book is unflattering to some of the justices, such as Thurgood Marshall, who is noted as lazy and uninvolved and Byron White, who is noted to be unlikeable, Burger is the biggest loser here. The book was published in the early 80s, only a few years before Burger left the court, and the image of him as a pompous, preening, intellectually deficient and generally clueless politician cost him, big time. In spite of the landmark rulings his Court made, he was unable to reverse the Warren Court’s liberal activism (as he had hoped to do). His “Minnesota Twin”, Harry Blackmun, would drift further away from him, both politically and personally, until finally becoming the most liberal justice after the departure of Thurgood Marshall in 1991. Burger’s Macchiavellian strategizing to assign opinions caused such a backlash that, at one point, William Brennan decides to vote for whatever side of a case puts him in the minority so that Burger won’t be able to assign him another crappy oppinion.Ultimately, Burger had good intentions, but his blunders dominate the book. He is a fascinating character, almost as bad a manager and as delusional as David Brent from the recent BBC TV Series The Office. Some of the principals come out looking good: Potter Stewart, for example, and Brennan also. But Rehnquist comes out best, in spite of some scheming and obfuscation. Burger, though, is front and center, and he’s a reminder of how we’re to seriously we all should take the business of the Court.

⭐I have just re-read this book, which I first enjoyed while I was taking Con Law in law school in the late 1970s. It is a little dated, but still a fun and well-written insider’s story of the workings of the U.S. Supreme Court. Woodward and Armstrong write with an “inside the beltway” politically-correct perspective which may seem a little dated today. That’s one feature that stands out. When it was originally released, Jimmy Carter was just being elected President, and the Congress was 2/3 Democratic. The political battlegrounds have changed in a generation. However, judicially, not as much as you might expect. Many key issues – abortion, free expression, and the role and limits of government, e.g., – continued through Rehnquist’s term as Chief and still face the Roberts court. While today’s Court line-up is more conservative, the process of internal court politics is certainly similar, so this book remains useful in attempting to understand both the history of the Court when it issued so many of those decisions that still drive politicians mad today, and how the often convoluted opinions on divisive issues are formed.It also provides a little nostalgia in remembering Justices such as Potter Stewart and Thurgood Marshall. The authors capture a famous incident involving these two. When the Court of the 1970’s considered an obscenity case, the Justices would retire, often en masse, to a basement screening room to take in the offending film. This was a world without home videos. Justice Stewart was infamous for his statement in an earlier case that, while he couldn’t define obscenity, “I know it when I see it.” Apparently, at the crucial moment (you know the word I’m avoiding) of the film, Justice Marshall would turn to Justice Stewart and proclaim: “That’s it – I know it, I see it!”Anyone interested in Constitutional Law and the Supreme Court should read this book.

⭐Fascinating, fast paced and full of insights, it’s easy to see why The Brethren remains in print decades after its originally release, and why it continues to earn praise to this day. Woodward and Armstrong exemplify the highest standards and efforts of investigative journalism, conveying a vivid account of the events and personalities of America’s peak, and usually secretive, legal institution, during a period of significant political and social upheaval.Their account begins with the closing days of the Warren court, hailed as a liberal period for the court’s jurisprudence. In the White House, Richard Nixon sees Chief Justice Earl Warren’s retirement as an opportunity to begin hosing down what he perceives as rampant, bleeding-heart liberalism, appointing Warren Burger as Chief. Subsequent Nixon appointments would strengthen the conservative wing of the Court, but as The Brethren reveals, not all goes according to plan. The book traces then traces the first six and a half years of the Burger Court. Along the way their account is one of a Chief who more often follows than guides the court, of processes within the court that raise serious questions about the carriage of justice and of politics and personalities playing a greater a role than perhaps many realised.Woodward and Armstrong’s writing covers significant ground, the structure and pace are both excellent and the injection of humour and the personalities of the various justices along the way speaks not only to their talent in writing this book, but also to the fine detail captured in their research for it.Accounts of the Supreme Court remain rare, and accounts of this quality rarer still. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend The Brethren

⭐Fantastic read, very useful in an academic evaluation of the role of the US Supreme Court and Civil Rights. Also, a very interesting book for general knowledge.

⭐The Brethren covers the Supreme Court of the United States of America from 1969 to 1975. It is evident that the authors Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong did secure their information from former unnamed clerks of the court as well as others as there is no supporting documentation contained in this publication. There is no doubt in my mind that there was a great deal of exhaustive research conducted prior to publishing this book.The Brethren is really a historic look and examination of the inner-workings of the Supreme Court of the United States of America and covers such areas as inner conflict amongst the judiciary, inner-politics, personalities, abilities of the judiciary, competence of the judiciary, government influence, political influence on decisions of the court, conference voting, assignments of majority opinions of the court, judicial strategy, judicial idiosyncrasies, judicial behaviour and respect towards each other, judicial compromises and deals and the ideological make-up of the court not seen by the average citizen.The book also addresses areas that are not normally made public such as the role of moderates of the court, voting compromises amongst the judiciary, the writing of court opinions, how the judiciary advance their own ideology and beliefs in their decisions, how written opinions are often amended and why, concerns of the judiciary about new appointments to the court, personal lives of the judiciary, influence of law clerks on the judiciary, the inner workings of the law clerks, the role and influence of the Chief Justice, constitutional arguments and the true workings and operations of the 14 Justices of Supreme Court of America during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.The Brethren affords the reader to view the workings of the Supreme Court of America from the inside out rather than from the outside in!

⭐Love the insight.

⭐The book is amazing, but the copy I received was not in good shape. The cover was dirty. Very disappointing.

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