
Nine Black Robes
Inside the Supreme Court's Drive to the Right and Its Historic Consequences
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Narrated by:
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Kirsten Potter
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By:
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Joan Biskupic
About this listen
New York Times Editor's Choice
"Biskupic, an accomplished and well-sourced journalist, knows the court as well as anyone now covering it... In her new book Biskupic has done something different and a good deal harder. She has written a group narrative that combines close accounts of the court's public business in the Trump years with a history of its private dramas and conflicts... The deeper message of 'Nine Black Robes' is that even with a new president in office we remain captive to the Age of Trump... A quiet urgency ripples through this informative, briskly paced and gracefully written book."—New York Times Book Review
"Biskupic opens a window onto the opaque, insular world of the justices to show an institution sinking gradually into crisis . . . Biskupic is a longtime chronicler of the court, and "Nine Black Robes" puts on display her connections within its chambers."—Washington Post
"[Biskupic] knows how to make news and illuminate the personalities atop the judicial org chart . . . The book reveals unseen sausage-making . . ."—Wall Street Journal
"Fascinating and informative . . . [Biskupic's] long experience covering the court . . . has put her in an incomparable position to comment on its make-up, historical positions and direction. It has also made her privy to many significant, little-known secrets about Supreme Court personalities and their historical behaviors."—The National Book Review
CNN Senior Supreme Court Analyst Joan Biskupic provides an urgent and inside look at the history-making era in the Supreme Court during the Trump and post-Trump years, from its seismic shift to the Right to its controversial decisions, including its reversal of Roe v. Wade, based on access to all the key players.
Nine Black Robes displays the inner maneuverings among the Supreme Court justices that led to the seismic reversal of Roe v. Wade and a half century of women’s abortion rights. Biskupic details how rights are stripped away or, alternatively as in the case of gun owners, how rights are expanded. Today’s bench—with its conservative majority—is desperately ideological. The Court has been headed rightward and ensnared by its own intrigues for years, but the Trump appointments hastened the modern transformation. With unparalleled access to key players, Biskupic shows the tactics of each justice and reveals switched votes and internal pacts that typically never make the light of day, yet will have repercussions for generations to come.
Nine Black Robes is the definitive narrative of the country’s highest court and its profound impact on all Americans.
©2023 Joan Biskupic (P)2023 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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-
Story
In The Supermajority, Michael Waldman explores the tumultuous 2021–2022 Supreme Court term. He draws deeply on history to examine other times the Court veered from the popular will, provoking controversy, and backlash. And he analyzes the most important new rulings and their implications for the law and for American society. Waldman asks: What can we do when the Supreme Court challenges the country?
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This should be a serialized media presentation, for the return of some normalization of the Supreme Court.
- By Elaine on 06-08-23
By: Michael Waldman
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The Chief
- The Life and Turbulent Times of Chief Justice John Roberts
- By: Joan Biskupic
- Narrated by: Jennywren Walker
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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An incisive biography of the Supreme Court's enigmatic chief justice, taking us inside the momentous legal decisions of his tenure so far.
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Hard to concentrate on, because of author's bias
- By Adam Johanson on 06-24-19
By: Joan Biskupic
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A People's History of the Supreme Court
- The Men and Women Whose Cases and Decisions Have Shaped Our Constitution
- By: Peter Irons, Howard Zinn - foreword
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 28 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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A comprehensive history of the people and cases that have changed history, this is the definitive account of the nation's highest court.
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Really enjoyed this book
- By Paul on 02-19-20
By: Peter Irons, and others
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A Matter of Interpretation
- Federal Courts and the Law
- By: Antonin Scalia, Amy Gutmann - editor foreword
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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We are all familiar with the image of the immensely clever judge who discerns the best rule of common law for the case at hand. But is this common-law mindset, which is appropriate in its place, suitable also in statutory and constitutional interpretation? In a witty and trenchant essay, Justice Scalia answers this question with a resounding negative.
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Detailed review of book
- By William on 05-24-25
By: Antonin Scalia, and others
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The Supreme Court
- By: William H. Rehnquist
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Chief Justice Rehnquist's engaging writing illuminates both the high and low points in the Court's history, from Chief Justice Marshall's dominance of the Court during the early 19th century through the landmark decisions of the Warren Court. Citing cases such as the Dred Scott decision and Roosevelt's Court-packing plan, Rehnquist makes clear that the Court does not operate in a vacuum, that the justices are unavoidably influenced by their surroundings, and that their decisions have real and lasting impacts on our society.
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Absorbing
- By Jean on 01-28-18
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Worse than Nothing
- The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism
- By: Erwin Chemerinsky
- Narrated by: Daniel Henning
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Originalism, the view that the meaning of a constitutional provision is fixed when it is adopted, was once the fringe theory of a few extremely conservative legal scholars but is now a well-accepted mode of constitutional interpretation. Noted legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky gives a comprehensive analysis of the problems that make originalism unworkable as a method of constitutional interpretation. He argues that the framers themselves never intended constitutional interpretation to be inflexible and shows how it is often impossible to know the "original intent" of any provision.
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Impeccably Logical, Backed by 100 Specific Example
- By Amy Eaton on 03-17-23
Wow
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Interesting but slanted
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Another 3 star effort from Biskupic
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Excellent
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Excellent resource
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a good, jumping off point for those interested in the inner machinations of the Supreme Court
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Excellent Source on the Supreme Court of Today
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The book itself is well thought out, historically informative, and a great read!
Definitely would recommend this book
Great book. Extremely relevant. Wonderful narrator
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How the Court moved hard to the right
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Hard to put down
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