Recommend some good books about the U.S. Supreme Court

Cafe Society
1

I suppose this could’ve gone in GQ, but I’m after book recommendations.

I’ve read Peter Irons’ People’s History of the Supreme Court, which is an interesting (and avowedly liberal) overview of the Court’s history. I’m interested in reading some other books about the Court – probably at least one that goes into detail about how cases are presented and decided (a behind-the-scenes sort of thing).

Anyone have any recommendations? Anything I should avoid?

2

Decision by Bernard Schwartz and Closed Chambers by Edward Lazarus are both excellent–the first is more technical, the second more of an “insider’s” view (as told by one of Blackmun’s clerks).

3

In my mind by far the best book out on the subject is Bob Woodward’s Brethern. It is an insider’s view but very human at the same time. It is perhaps a bit dated now (published for the fist time in 1979), but still a very good read and eye-opening.

4

For a case-specific look at the Supreme Court’s functionings, I recommend Gideon’s Trumpet, which is about the case that led to the U.S. requiring counsel to be provided to defendents who could not affort counsel. Has lots of stuff regarding cases leading up this particular case and a lot about the workings of the Supreme Court.

5

Another very good addition to your collection would be the “May It Please The Court” collection. I think there’s actually a couple versions of this now, but it comes with a book containing transcripts of the oral arguments before the court on historic cases and a collection of cassettes/CDs with the actual recorded audio from those arguments. I think in addition to the “original” version there’s also one specifically dealing with the first amendment. Not so much a book “about” the Supreme Court, but if you’re interested in the workings and history of the Court, these are great.

6

Interestingly, Chief Justice Rehnquist’s history, The Supreme Court, is very good. He works so hard to be unbiased that it comes across as a bit flat and dry, but he explains the important cases well and knows where the turning points were.