The Most Dangerous Branch
Inside the Supreme Court's Assault on the Constitution
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Narrated by:
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Dan Woren
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By:
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David A. Kaplan
About this listen
In the bestselling tradition of The Nine and The Brethren, The Most Dangerous Branch takes us inside the secret world of the Supreme Court. David A. Kaplan, the former legal affairs editor of Newsweek, shows how the justices subvert the role of the other branches of government—and how we’ve come to accept it at our peril.
With the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, the Court has never before been more central in American life. It is the nine justices who too often 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. Brett Kavanaugh—replacing Kennedy—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, Antonin Scalia’s death, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s celebrity, Breyer Bingo, the petty feuding between Gorsuch and the chief justice, and what John Roberts thinks of 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, to rulings during the 2017-18 term. 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.
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Critic reviews
“Show[s] how the justices take and rule on cases that they have, in Kaplan’s view, no legitimate role in deciding, and on the basis of legal reasoning that only barely masks partisan goals. The high-profile 5-to-4 opinions Kaplan highlights are deserving targets.”—The Washington Post
“[Describes] the behind the scenes dealing that led to the appointment of the sitting Supreme Court . . . Presented at a level of granularity with which you may not be familiar. It makes for engaging, if not reassuring, reading.”—NPR
“Kaplan writes in an engaging fashion throughout this detailed book. . . . The Most Dangerous Branch couldn’t be better.”—Associated Press
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Informative and well-written
- By James on 07-11-05
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Impeachment
- An American History
- By: Jon Meacham, Timothy Naftali, Peter Baker, and others
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Impeachment is a double-edged sword. Though it was designed to check tyrants, Thomas Jefferson also called impeachment “the most formidable weapon for the purpose of a dominant faction that was ever contrived”. On the one hand, it nullifies the will of voters, the basic foundation of all representative democracies. On the other, its absence from the Constitution would leave the country vulnerable to despotic leadership.
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May not scratch your personal itch, but read it anyway!
- By Marshall on 11-17-18
By: Jon Meacham, and others
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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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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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The Supreme Court
- The Personalities and Rivalries That Defined America
- By: Jeffrey Rosen
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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A leading Supreme Court expert recounts the personal and philosophical rivalries that forged our nation's highest court and continue to shape our daily lives. The Supreme Court is the most mysterious branch of government, and yet the Court is at root a human institution, made up of very bright people with very strong egos, for whom political and judicial conflicts often become personal.
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Overruled!
- By Stephen McLeod on 08-23-08
By: Jeffrey Rosen
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Our Lost Constitution
- The Willful Subversion of America's Founding Document
- By: Mike Lee
- Narrated by: Mike Lee, Tom Parks
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Senator Mike Lee tells the dramatic, little-known stories behind six of the Constitution's most indispensable provisions. He shows their rise. He shows their fall. And he makes vividly clear how nearly every abuse of federal power today is rooted in neglect of this Lost Constitution.
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Solution is a bit naive
- By Will on 08-07-16
By: Mike Lee
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To End a Presidency
- By: Laurence Tribe, Joshua Matz
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser, Laurence Tribe - preface
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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The history and future of our democracy's ultimate sanction, presidential impeachment, and a guide to how it should be used now. To End a Presidency addresses one of today's most urgent questions: when and whether to impeach a president. Laurence Tribe and Joshua Matz provide an authoritative guide to impeachment's past and a bold argument about its proper role today. In an era of expansive presidential power and intense partisanship, we must rethink impeachment for the 21st century.
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A Primer on Impeachment and our Present Dilemma
- By J.B. on 05-20-18
By: Laurence Tribe, and others
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One Vote Away
- How a Single Supreme Court Seat Can Change History
- By: Ted Cruz
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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In One Vote Away, you will discover how often the high court decisions that affect your life have been decided by just one vote. One vote preserves your right to speak freely, to bear arms, and to exercise your faith. One vote will determine whether your children enjoy their full inheritance as American citizens.
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Intellectual and Insightful, so smartly written it became prophetic!
- By Kevin D. on 09-29-20
By: Ted Cruz
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Forcing the Spring
- Inside the Fight for Marriage Equality
- By: Jo Becker
- Narrated by: Jamie Leonhart
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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A tour de force of groundbreaking reportage by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jo Becker, Forcing the Spring follows the historic legal challenge mounted against California’s ban on same-sex marriage, a remarkable lawsuit that forced the issue of marriage equality before the highest court in the land. For nearly five years Becker embedded with the lawsuit’s plaintiffs, was given free rein within the legal and political war rooms where strategy was plotted, and attended every day of the trial and every appellate argument.
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A stirring courtroom drama
- By David on 05-19-14
By: Jo Becker
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The Supremes' Greatest Hits, 2nd Revised & Updated Edition
- The 44 Supreme Court Cases That Most Directly Affect Your Life
- By: Michael G. Trachtman
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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The Supreme Court's rulings have shaped American life and justice and allowed Americans to retain basic freedoms such as privacy, free speech, and the right to a fair trial. This revised and updated edition of Michael G. Trachtman's riveting work includes 10 important cases from 2010 to 2015.
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Nice review overall.
- By "freeindeed4ever" on 02-10-20
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Give Us the Ballot
- The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America
- By: Ari Berman
- Narrated by: Tom Zingarelli
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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The adoption of the landmark Voting Rights Act in 1965 enfranchised millions of Americans and is widely regarded as the crowning achievement of the civil rights movement. Yet fifty years later, we are still fighting heated battles over race, representation, and political power - over the right to vote, the central pillar of our democracy. A groundbreaking narrative history of voting rights since 1965, Give Us the Ballot tells the story of what happened after the act was passed.
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In-Depth Blow by Blow Account of the VRA
- By Gillian on 10-25-16
By: Ari Berman
What listeners say about The Most Dangerous Branch
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Henry
- 12-13-20
Great book on the Supreme Court.
I consider myself to be progressive and because this book is political I thought that was important to say, however I recommend it to a friend that is very conservative and we had surprisingly similar reviews. We we're both pleasantly surprised at the authors willingness to call out hypocrisy in both parties. The Supreme Court has become another partisan branch of government and this book really helps explain how that happened and even suggest a few remedies.
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-01-22
The early chapters belong in People magazine
It took a lot of patience to get to the meat of this book. It's no wonder so many reviewers, while praising the book overall, complain that it is long-winded. But I join them in saying that once he gets to his topic he does a good job with it.
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- Gregory Antollino
- 11-23-18
Nice driving listen
For supreme court aficionados This is excellent listening material. However the authors attempt to Criticize the gay rights rulings along with the other bad rulings Seamlessly then ends by criticizing the dissents. It’s a comprehensive review oh justices going back till Warren Burger in varying capacities with concentrations on the most recent decades.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 12-30-18
Thoughtful and Well Argued
Kaplan’s book makes a strong case that high profile cases that delight the left or the right - depending on the outcome - degrade democracy over time.
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- Laurie Higgins
- 11-28-18
A Must Read
This book gives a detailed overview of the history of the US Supreme Court, its members, and its decisions.
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- Trevor
- 12-09-18
Engaging critique of the court’s methods
This book usually reads more like an investigative exposé into the inner workings of the Supreme Court and its less-than-ideal members. The author lays out a case for how the Court has subverted the overall democratic process starting around the ruling of Roe and continuing into the present, albeit now under the sway of a different political party. He deftly points out the hypocrisy of many of the Justices responsible for these shifts, as well as the consequences of the court being transformed into just another political branch.
Naturally, the book itself is required to make a number of judgments about the Court’s motives. Readers may not always agree with the logic presented by the author, but most will find it worthwhile to hear the entire argument against judicial activism and the detrimental effects it has caused within the past few decades.
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4 people found this helpful
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- J&k
- 10-20-18
good book--- written with partisan view?
in my opinion this book was written from an liberal perspective, if you can overlook the clear partisan view from the author it is still very interested. the narration was also good quality
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- Todd
- 11-18-18
Great Insight
Well read. Well written. Thought provoking and a good starting point to consideration of a number of issues.
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- carol utsunomiya
- 02-25-19
Thought provoking!
This book is a little tedious at times, but well worth slugging through. No matter what side of the fence you’re on, it will ask you to re-think your ideas about the Supreme Court.
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- dupuytren
- 01-01-19
Concise, educational, prefatpry
This book is an excellent summary of the first 2 decades of the 21st century -obviously in jurisprudential terms. How one branch of government has deemed it in its purview to perform other functions that should be delegated to the legislative and executive divisions is mind-blowing. Personal convictions about particular cases and their results are put aside and an objective analysis of the reality of what Scotus has become is narrated.
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1 person found this helpful