Ethics

Souter the Right Wing Justice

By Ed Brayton

I'm reading Jan Crawford Greenburg's Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court. I'm gonna post some interesting insights from that book, which so far ranks with Jeffrey Toobin's The Nine and Bob Woodward's The Brethren as must-read books for court watchers like me. Because the court operates in such secrecy, these scholars offer an important look behind the curtain to see how the court interacts and reaches its decisions.

One of the interesting things that Greenburg focuses on is how the addition of each new justice changes the dynamic of the court, sometimes dramatically. The interaction of personalities can do unusual things, pushing key justices one way or another. She reveals how William Brennan's forceful personality on the left pushed O'Connor to the right, then how Clarence Thomas joining the court pushed her back to the left.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on November 11, 2008 (boomark / email).