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The Most Dangerous Branch: Inside the Supreme Court's Assault on the Constitution
The Most Dangerous Branch Inside the Supreme Court's Assault on the Constitution Author:David A. Kaplan In a revealing portrait of the Supreme Court, the former legal affairs editor of Newsweek, David A. Kaplan, takes us into the secret world of the justices. He shows how the Court subverts the role of other branches of government?and how we?ve come to accept it at our peril. — Never before has the Supreme Court been more central in American life. ... more »It is the nine justices, rather than Congress and elected officials, who now decide the controversial issues of our time?from abortion and same-sex marriage, to gun control, campaign finance and voting rights. The Court is so crucial that many voters in 2016 made their choice based on whom they thought their presidential candidate would name to the Court. Donald Trump picked Neil Gorsuch?the key decision of his new administration. The next justice will be even more important, holding the swing vote over so much social policy. Is that really how democracy is supposed to work?
Based on exclusive interviews with the justices and dozens of their law clerks, Kaplan provides fresh details about life behind the scenes at the Court ? Clarence Thomas?s simmering rage, Anthony Kennedy?s self-aggrandizement, Ruth Bader Ginsburg?s celebrity, the petty feuding between Gorsuch and the chief justice, and what John Roberts thinks about his critics.
Kaplan presents a sweeping narrative of the justices? aggrandizement of power over the decades ? from Roe v. Wade to Bush v. Gore to Citizens United. But the arrogance of the Court isn?t partisan: Conservative and liberal justices alike are guilty of overreach. Challenging conventional wisdom about the Court?s transcendent power, The Most Dangerous Branch is sure to rile both sides of the political aisle.« less