Cover of Closed Chambers: The First Eyewitness Account of the Epic Struggles Inside the Supreme Court

Closed Chambers: The First Eyewitness Account of the Epic Struggles Inside the Supreme Court

by Edward Lazarus · 1998

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Edward Lazarus, a former Supreme Court clerk to Justice Harry Blackmun, spills the beans on an institution that values silence. Nobody is supposed to understand what happens behind the scenes of the high court—that's why the justices rarely speak to the media—but Lazarus tells all he knows from his time as a top aide to Blackmun in the Supreme Court's 1988 term. There's a lot of legal theory and history, but it's well presented and usually focuses on touchstone issues in U.S. politics; cases involving abortion, the death penalty, and racial preferences receive sustained treatment in these pages. There are gossipy bits, too, revealing unflattering details about several current justices. Sure to be one of the more controversial books of the year. —John J. Miller

Subject
historyhistoryMore like thisLess of thispoliticspoliticsMore like thisLess of this
Setting
USAUSAMore like thisLess of this
Audience
adult
Length
long · 576 pages

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