Justice on the Brink: The Death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Rise of Amy Coney Barrett, and Twelve Months That Transformed the Supreme Court *(ebook)
“This landmark book gives us an invaluable perspective on the Supreme Court in democracy’s hour of maximum danger.”—Jon Meacham The gripping story of the year that transformed the Supreme Court into the court of Donald Trump and Amy Coney Barrett, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning law columnist for The New York Times At the end of the Supreme Court’s 2019–20 term, the center was holding. The predictions that the court would move irrevocably to the far right hadn’t come to pass, as the justices released surprisingly moderate opinions in cases involving abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, and how local governments could respond to the pandemic, all shepherded by Chief Justice John Roberts. By the end of the 2020–21 term, much about the nation’s highest court had changed. The right-wing supermajority had completed its first term on the bench, cementing Donald Trump’s legacy on American jurisprudence. This is the story of those twelve months. From the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the rise of Amy Coney Barrett, from the pandemic to the election, from the Trump campaign’s legal challenges to the ongoing debate about the role of religion in American life, the Supreme Court has been at the center of many of the biggest events of the year, with the liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Stephen Breyer outnumbered six to three. Throughout Justice on the Brink, legendary journalist Linda Greenhouse, who won a Pulitzer Prize for her Supreme Court coverage, gives us unique insight into a court under stress, providing the context and brilliant analysis readers of her work in The New York Times have come to expect. Ultimately, Greenhouse asks a fundamental question relevant to all Americans: Is this still John Roberts’s Supreme Court, or does the court now belong to Donald Trump? Read more
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Why Must Read Justice on the Brink: The Death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Rise of Amy Coney Barrett, and Twelve Months That Transformed the Supreme Court?
Linda Greenhouse is a Yale law school professor who also writes a regular column about the Supreme Court. In her latest work, Justice on the Brink, she explains to us why the 2020-2021 term was so monumental and why we need to think seriously about the Supreme Court whenever we are electing our governmental officials. Greenhouse sets the stage with the unexpected passing of Justice Ginsburg, and the woman who took her seat on the court - Amy Barrett. As the junior associate justice, Barrett is not yet versed in the etiquette or traditions of the court, but she has the all important vote that counts the same as the most senior justice (Clarence Thomas). Greenhouse provides us with a number of critical cases throughout the term that shows how the court is steadily marching to the right - and with it, out of step with the Chief Justice, John Roberts. Although Roberts is still the First among equals, he is no longer the swing vote in a relatively evenly divided chamber. As Greenhouse explains for roughly the last 45 years, we've had an ideological balance - 4 liberals, 4 conservatives, and 1 "swing vote". Prior to Ginsburg's death, Roberts was that swing vote, which kept the court from becoming too political or too reactive. With Barrett on the court, we now have a 6-3 conservative bent, and there is no "swing vote" to be had. The 3 liberals (Kagan, Breyer, and Sotomayor) are consistently outnumbered, therefore fighting a "losing battle" for their viewpoints. This is the most significant change coming from the 2020-21 term, as I saw it. Greenhouse does a very nice job of analyzing the court, it's various members, including their personalities and how they mesh with each other. She recognizes that a term is like a "snapshot in time" of the court, but it does help us to understand the inner workings - especially when the Court goes through such a tumultuous shift in such a short time frame.
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