In The Nine, acclaimed journalist Jeffrey Toobin takes us into the chambers of the most important—and secret—legal body in our country, the Supreme Court, revealing the complex dynamic among the nine people who decide the law of the land. An institution at a moment of transition, the Court now stands at a crucial point, with major changes in store on such issues as abortion, civil rights, and church-state relations. Based on exclusive interviews with the justices and with a keen sense of the Court’s history and the trajectory of its future, Jeffrey Toobin creates in The Nine a riveting story of one of the most important forces in American life today.

I happen to pick up Jeffrey Toobin's The Nine just after completing Constitutional Law in law school. What a great companion this book was to the class. The book explores the stories behind many of the major cases learned in law school. It not succinctly summarizes the law, but far more interesting is the insights it gives to the justices' individual motivations and their efforts to bring other justices on to their opinions. The conventional view of the court is that it is apolitical and unconcerned with popular opinion. This book explores a truth most court watchers already know, that the justices are concerned about popular opinion and do not stand as far apart from the other branches as many believe.

The discussion of the various confirmation processes is also illuminating. The book starts with Reagan, so it is not clear how it worked before him, but from Reagan on there were very few smooth selection and confirmation processes. With the exception of the selection of Justice Roberts and the selection of Scalia to replace Rehnquist (who was elevated to Chief Justice), there have been no smooth selections and confirmations since 1980. The reason is not Congressional or partisan posturing, but usually a failure by the White House to do its due diligence.

An interesting read about what goes on behind the opinions.

This is one of the unusual book that I managed to finish reading in two days. The author provided good balance of theorectical legal discussion, justices' personality/background and Washington politics/gossips. The shortcoming of such quantity of information is that the content is only sufficient to entertain readers who don't have much basic knowledge of the Supreme Court, like me. (I tend to read the business or foreign section of newspaper, but skip news related to legal issues).

Potential reader must know that the author did not bother to hide that he is a liberal. Reading a well-written book that happens to agrees with my social views brings additional pleasure. But, I suspect that social conservatives could find this book biased and potentially enraging.

P.S. definitely get the version of the book that has the year 2008 update.

THE NINE is a very readable synopsis of the members and inner workings of The Supreme Court under Rehnquist's leadership. Each judge is examined in some detail with much of the focus falling on the star of this court, O'Connor. The overall scope of the book does not lends itself to an in depth examination of any particular judge or case; instead it's main function is to provide the reader with a concise breakdown of The Court's recent history and as such it serves its purpose well. For the reader with a casual interest in the Court's operations and anyone wishing to examine the premier cases that this court dealt with, Bush v Gore , Lawrence v. Texas, The Schiavo case or Guantanamo Bay, this book is a nice overview.

It is understandable why Mr. Toobin's "The Nine" received so many kudos and vaulted onto numerous book critics' top-ten list for the year. Like three of his earlier works pertaining to the OJ Simpson trial, President Clinton's impeachment fiasco and the 2000 Florida recount catastrophe, the author has produced a knowledgable and engrossing book about the Supreme Court. I have always been perplexed and discouraged about the near total indifference by many voters when it comes to a potential President's effect on the makeup of the Court. Mr. Toobin has done a great service by fleshing out the individual Justices who reside in this important institution. The Justices are not depicted as static, one-dimensional beings, but individuals who continue to evolve during their tenures on the Court. Is the book opinionated? Absolutely. Is he a harsher critic of the more conservative Justices? Definitely. Is the book educational and worth reading? Without a doubt.

There are a lot of "facts" in this book which are better described as the author's liberal bias. Toobin had some direct access to individual justices, but not all, and often resorts to his opinions. If you like liberal interpretations, this is for you. Objectivity is non-existent.