The Supreme Court by William H. Rehnquist
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"[...] the Supreme Court is an institution far more dominated by centrifugal forces, pushing toward individuality and independence, than it is by centripetal forces pulling for hierarchical ordering and institutional unity."

This interesting observation about the workings of the United States highest court comes from William H. Rehnquist's The Supreme Court (originally published in 1987; I have read the edition that was "revised and updated" in 2001). The author may safely be assumed to know what he is writing about. Mr. Rehnquist was a Supreme Court justice for 33 years (1972 - 2005), and he served 19 of these years as the Chief Justice.

The author quotes a standard, textbook-type definition of what the Supreme Court does:

"Congress and the president enact laws, the president executes the laws, and the Supreme Court decides cases arising under those laws or under the Constitution."

The book clearly shows how misleadingly straightforward that description is, how much more is at stake when the court decides cases, how the court's decisions affect every single resident and shape the future of the country, and - in turn - how various social, political, and personal factors influence the court's decisions. I have read and reviewed here on Goodreads about 10 books about Supreme Court, and in many of these reviews I expressed my belief that Supreme Court is the most important branch of the government, more important than the president or the Congress.

The book begins with Mr. Rehnquist's personal recollection of the travel to Washington in January 1952 to begin his law clerkship for Supreme Court and the first few days on the job. Then he begins the journey through the 19th and 20th century history of the court, highlighting the most important cases and most influential justices. Marburg vs. Madison is the first major case discussed in considerable detail. Then comes the infamous Dred Scott decision, which became, as the author states, "a 'self-inflicted wound' from which it took the Court at least a generation to recover."

Chapters Six and Seven deal with the Supreme Court in president Roosevelt's times. I find the coverage of Roosevelt's "court-packing plan" absolutely riveting; the author presents the political and personal factors that contributed to the eventual failure of the plan. Yet, from a long-term perspective, Roosevelt succeeded in influencing the ideological direction of the court: during his 12 years of presidency, he appointed eight associate justices, and put a clear imprint of the New Deal ideas on the court's decisions.

The next two chapters focus on yet another remarkable and momentous case - the "Steel Seizure Case." Facing Korean war and the fiasco of negotiations between the steel mill workers and the steel companies, President Truman ordered the government seizure of steel mills. The author convincingly explains the background of the case and presents various forces and factors that contributed to the majority of the justices eventually voting against the government.

Next, Mr. Rehnquist discusses the "Warren Court" and the major changes in the constitutional law that began happening in the early 1960s. He also portrays the highly influential justices, such as Brennan, Douglas, and Warren. Chapters Twelve through Fourteen illustrate the procedural details of the Supreme Court's functioning; the reader will learn about the three main stages of the court's work: how the petitions for certiorari are chosen, the details of the oral arguments, and how the cases are actually decided. The last chapter, The Court in Its Third Century nicely summarizes the main emphases and motifs of the book. The very last sentence is worth quoting:

"[Supreme Court] will continue as a vital and uniquely American institutional participant in the everlasting search of civilized society for the proper balance between liberty and authority, between the state and the individual."

I find The Supreme Court an interesting and worthwhile read, and Mr. Rehnquist, although considered a staunch conservative by virtually all commentators, comes across as balanced and remarkably non-partisan in his writing.

Three-and-a-quarter stars.

View all my reviews