5 comments about The Rehnquist Court and the Constitution.

1. In this work Tinsley Yarbrough seeks to summarize the work of the Rehnquist Court (up until 2000) concerning the seven dominate issues of constitutional adjudication. Yarbrough examines subjects such as governmental power, freedom of expression and religion, criminal justice, and unenumerated rights. Begining with a description of the appointments of the justices who conservatives hoped would finally kill the last remnants of the liberal Warren Court era, Yarbrough examines each of the most important issues and concludes that the Rehnquist Court has failed, at least generally, to achieve this hope. Instead, it has walked something of a more moderate role, sometimes limiting precedent but often reaffirming the core principles of the liberal activism of old.

   The work is good but it should not be your first introduction to the Supreme Court. It is densely packed with information and is probably best for a reference work to use when you reach a new area of coursework. My biggest problem with Yarbrough's work here is that it is great at synthesizing the many cases of the Rehnquist era but it is light on meaningful analysis and criticism of those cases. Description only goes so far and I think the book would have benefited from a stronger analytical view of the 14 years (then) of the Rehnquist Court.




2. i think if you go through this book you would realise justice is not blind but very racialy prejudiced i would prefer straight shooter brilliant jusice scalia,excellent book



3. Mr. Yarbrough has a fine reputation as a leading judicial biographer: his previous works on Hugo Black, and the two Justices Harlan were impressive, detailed and interesting. With "The Rehnquist Court" he pumps out a minor achievement and a heavily slanted analysis of recent Constitutional decisions. There's no denying the hostility toward conservative/strict-constructionist judges and viewpoints and this, as a previous poster noted, deeply taints the work overall. In addition, Yarbrough's style (which has always tended to the dry and tedious) is here especially mind-numbing: the interesting constitutional issues under debate are hidden amongst irrelevant facts and long-winded prose. As a whole, I found the book very disappointing and the steep price tag wholly unwarranted.



4. In terms of informational content and comprehensiveness, this text is quite good. Yarbrough cites many sources and gives the essence of most of the opinions on the cases he covers. That is to say that a given case may have three or four opinions, as justices can agree on the same verdict for different reasons, and Yarbrough does a fine job of explaining each on most of the decisions covered. My huge qualm with the work is the simple fact that Yarbrough commits one of the biggest sins possible in scholarly work: he sharply biases his work without seeming to. His language is subtly biased, and an unwary reader could easily be manipulated.



5. The Rehnquist Court and the Constitution is not light reading, but for those who are interested in the high court, it is good reading. Yarbrough provides a concise examination of each Justice, including his or her background, confirmation hearing, and the political climate of that hearing. He captures the essence of each Justice as both jurist and human being. He then allows the reader to infer the interaction of those philosophies, personalities and egos on the direction that he perceives for significant constitutional issues. He does this without much, if any, editorial comment, though at times his own constitutional philosophy appears to peek out just a bit. Although this book is a bit heavy for anyone other than a constitutional scholar, it is well worth reading. Any student, teacher, judge, lawyer or just plain "court watcher" will appreciate this glimpse into the most secret and perhaps most powerful branch of our government.

2 comments about Crazy Rhythm: From Brooklyn and Jazz to Nixon's White House, Watergate, and Beyond.

1. I was enticed by this book from the moment I read about Garment's lively performance of "Tiptoe through the Tulips" at age 7 in his father's dress making factory. Having read several Watergate books, I felt that this one was different for one specific reason; Garment makes Nixon into a human being, and helps to bring Nixon's several positive qualities to life (such as his wonderful foreign policy) that many Watergate-related authors have falied to acknowledge. I especially loved the ending of the book at his daughter Annie's Bat-Mitzvah; it was a wonderful conclusion to to a nostalgic story. I am left with only one question...when will the movie be out?



2. Garment shines a little light on some of the more puzzling questions of the Nixon administration and on Iran/contra. He writes as he speaks, conversational and wandering. That's the book's salvation, however: finally here's the human side of some of the darker moments in Republican government. We see how the three branches, press and other groups play off each other to achieve their goals. Like any good serial author, he leaves us hungry for the next book, which will "tell all" about Watergate. I can't wait

No comments about The Stanford Law Chronicles: Doin' Time on the Farm.

No comments about The Papers of John Marshall: Vol X: Correspondence, Papers, and Selected Judicial Opinions, January 1824-April 1827 (Papers of John Marshall).

1 comments about Slovo: The Unfinished Autobiography of ANC leader Joe Slovo.

1. excelent book all about slovos fights with apartheit. the only white leader of the a.n.c A FIGHTER TO THE END.

1 comments about Nature's Justice: Writings of William O. Douglas (Northwest Readers).

1. Few national leaders have shaped present-day America more positively than Justice William O. Douglas. The force of Douglas's ideas has had a profound influence on our world--from the individual liberties that we enjoy to his attitudes about protecting the natural world from human encroachment. At the core of it all is Douglas's idea of the human person. The advantages Americans enjoy over citizens of other nations, particularly totalitarian regimes " . . . are not in material things such as technology and standards of living. They relate to matters of the mind and the spirit . . . Man's moral and spiritual appetite, as well as his political ideals, demanded that he have freedom. Liberty was to be the way of life--inalienable and safe from the intrusions of government."
   
   James O'Fallon's edited selections provide us with an excellent overview of Douglas's vast experience and the life that underlay his philosophy--from his boyhood days growing up in near poverty in the Yakima foothills, through his great Supreme Court decisions (establishing the right of privacy) and dissents. Here we also get a feel of the great men Douglas knew: Brandeis, President Franklin Roosevelt (with whom he played poker and drank martinis regularly), Hugo Black and many others.
   
   In the tradition of John Muir and Aldo Leopold, Douglas is one of our great nature writers with his descriptions of the experiences and characters of the great wild places of our Pacific Northwest. He has a botanist's feel for the detail of a landscape and paints a vivid picture with all the sights, sounds and smells of the wilderness.
   
   Douglas was the partner of presidents, but he also had a great understanding and sympathy for the poor, for persons such as prostitutes who lived in conditions where criminal conduct was prevalent, and hobos with whom he rode in boxcars in his early days. These are outstanding recollections and ideas--Douglas is one of the greatest thinkers of the last Century.

5 comments about Life After Johnnie Cochran: Why I Left the Sweetest-Talking, Most Successful Black Lawyer in L.A..

1. This book debunks the myth that every woman who's in an abusive relationship must've been raised in a trailer park with parents who beat her. It debunks the myth that all relationships where women are systematically abused take place in "poor families". The book shows that emotional abuse and abandonment matter. It shows that under the cover of wealth, a husband with a successful career can still be an abusive mate. Of all things, it shows that Johnnie's parents aided and abetted his affair with, and child with a white woman, while still married to his black wife. (Crazy family dynamic.)
   
   The book reads well, is easy to follow, and documents one woman's journey to a point where she finally had to say "No, I can't stand this any longer -- even if I have to live in poverty." Not a given, but she finds a positive marriage after that, and you can't help but rejoice with her. A great book to read if you've ever known anyone living with someone who didn't treat them right, and wondered why they stayed.



2. This book is not even worth reading. Although I do believe most of Barbara's tales about Johnnie's philandering, I don't buy her mostly negative and one-sided story. Her story about chronic domestic abuse is not very convincing because she only cites about one or two alleged incidents where this might have occurred. If anything Johnnie was fighting this woman to stay out of his life and recognize when a relationship has ended. At one point in the book she even mentioned her own daughter wanted her to get back with him. Why the heck would her own daughter want her to go back with him if he is such a monster? It is obvious to me that she was just using him for his money and would not divorce because she had more to lose and was upset that he was with a "white" woman. In fact, the real reason why she left him is because Johnnie decided to take a cut in pay when he left his private law practice to work in the #3 position in the LA District Attorney Office. She was afraid that she would not be able to maintain her extravagant spending. This book was a real disappointment. Barbara makes a high and mighty claim about educating physically abused woman when in reality she is just trying to make a quick dollar by fabricating a bunch of stories and trying to dig up dirt where none existed. If you want a more accurate spin on the truth about their relationship, read Johnnie's book entitled " A Lawyers Life".



3. This book is not even worth reading. Although I do believe most of Barbara's tales about Johnnie's philandering, I don't buy her mostly negative and one-sided story. Her story about chronic domestic abuse is not very convincing because she only cites about one or two alleged incidents where this might have occurred. If anything Johnnie was fighting this woman to stay out of his life and recognize when a relationship has ended. At one point in the book she even mentioned her own daughter wanted her to get back with him. Why the heck would her own daughter want her to go back with him if he is such a monster? It is obvious to me that she was just using him for his money and would not divorce because she had more to lose and was upset that he was with a "white" woman. In fact, the real reason why she left him is because Johnnie decided to take a cut in pay when he left his private law practice to work in the #3 position in the LA District Attorney Office. She was afraid that she would not be able to maintain her extravagant spending. This book was a real disappointment. Barbara makes a high and mighty claim about educating physically abused woman when in reality she is just trying to make a quick dollar by fabricating a bunch of stories and trying to dig up dirt where none existed. If you want a more accurate spin on the truth about their relationship, read Johnnie's book entitled " A Lawyers Life".



4. This book is not even worth reading. Although I do believe most of Barbara's tales about Johnnie's philandering, I don't buy her mostly negative and one-sided story. Her story about chronic domestic abuse is not very convincing because she only cites about one or two alleged incidents where this might have occurred. If anything Johnnie was fighting this woman to stay out of his life and recognize when a relationship has ended. At one point in the book she even mentioned her own daughter wanted her to get back with him. Why the heck would her own daughter want her to go back with him if he is such a monster? It is obvious to me that she was just using him for his money and would not divorce because she had more to lose and was upset that he was with a "white" woman. In fact, the real reason why she left him is because Johnnie decided to take a cut in pay when he left his private law practice to work in the #3 position in the LA District Attorney Office. She was afraid that she would not be able to maintain her extravagant spending. This book was a real disappointment. Barbara makes a high and mighty claim about educating physically abused woman when in reality she is just trying to make a quick dollar by fabricating a bunch of stories and trying to dig up dirt where none existed. If you want a more accurate spin on the truth about their relationship, read Johnnie's book entitled " A Lawyers Life".



5. I didn't expect much, coming from a non-public personality writing a "my life with..." tome. I was very pleasantly surprised. Barbara Cochran Berry is a likeable and intelligent storyteller. She shows herself to be way above the league of that (in my opinion) smooth-talking sociopath she married. She gives it to him straight between the eyes, but in a restrained manner, which only adds to her aura of dignity and veracity.

   This is a solid, well-written book about a woman who has gone through emotional hell and come through it stronger. I would recommend it particulary to women who are themselves experiencing the pain of marital betrayal. Best of luck to her.

2 comments about Tearing Down Walls: A Woman's Triumph.

1. I agree with Robert Reich's five star review of this book, and found it a brave and honest look at one woman's breakthrough career, a study in how to overcome all the barriers from the workplace, as well as family imprinting, that plagued Ms. Jones, our first female Federal Trade Commissioner. Here is Robert Reich's review:
   
   "Mary Gardiner Jones not only tore down walls that kept women out of positions of power and influence - she smashed them to smithereens. And in so doing, she created opportunities for future generations who never knew how high and thick the walls once were. Hers is an exemplary life, offering men as well as women a lesson in what one person's indomitable spirit can accomplish. Read this and be inspired." Robert B. Reich, Prof. of Public Policy, U. of Cal, Berkeley, former U. S. Secetary of Labor, author of the book Supercapitalism.



2. I agree with Robert Reich's five star review of this book, and found it a brave and honest look at one woman's breakthrough career, a study in how to overcome all the barriers from the workplace, as well as family imprinting, that plagued Ms. Jones, our first female Federal Trade Commissioner. Here is Robert Reich's review:
   
   "Mary Gardiner Jones not only tore down walls that kept women out of positions of power and influence - she smashed them to smithereens. And in so doing, she created opportunities for future generations who never knew how high and thick the walls once were. Hers is an exemplary life, offering men as well as women a lesson in what one person's indomitable spirit can accomplish. Read this and be inspired." Robert B. Reich, Prof. of Public Policy, U. of Cal, Berkeley, former U. S. Secetary of Labor, author of the book Supercapitalism.

2 comments about Bus Ride to Justice.

1. Fred Gray knew how. Mr. Gray defended some of the movements biggest names, you should read some of the things he accomplished.Mr Gray did make every effort to destroy seregation where ever he found it. And he was good at it.



2. Fred Gray isn't just a Civil Rights Lawyer, he's THE Civil Rights lawyer. This man represented Rosa Parks in the Bus Boycott, MLK Jr in the Selma March, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, and desegregation lawsuits for Alabama public schools. In a world where the word 'lawyer' holds a negative connotation, Fred Gray's story is about what a lawyer ought to be doing. This isn't the movie of the week, it's the real thing by the man who did it.

3 comments about Yield: A Judge's First-year Diary.

1. "Yield" is a non-fiction work that reads like a fast-paced action novel. It is a well-written, easy reading account of Judge Janice Law's first year on the Harris County, Texas Criminal Court. Judge Law describes in chilling detail the cold blooded, heartless individuals who frequent the corridors of the Criminal Court system, preying on the innocent as well as the guilty. And those are only the lawyers and judges working the "system" for their own personal gain! Defendants brought before the Criminal Court system for adjudication are often at the mercy of lawyers and judges who should, themselves, be brought up on charges.
   This book is not about individual cases brought before the Criminal Court; it is about the Criminal Court itself and is a stunning indictment of the judicial system in that one Harris County court. One hopes the worst of the lawyers and judges described in this book are no longer practicing their brand of "justice" in Texas, but one is left with the uneasy feeling that politics, power, and money may still trump justice in the Harris County Criminal Court.
   
   This book was a finalist in its category at the Texas Book Festival - Violet Crown awards.



2. Entertaining book?...Not so much if you actually knew the author. I'd have to say that this woman was probably the most inept excuse for a criminal court judge in Harris County Texas in the last 35 years. She did not know criminal court law and "shot from the hip" usually, which got her into trouble with "all" the other presiding judges (15 total)AND The Supreme Court of Texas.
   
   Ms. Law was a traffic court judge before becoming a criminal court judge and did a good job in traffic court. But, she was entirely "out of her league" in criminal court. I sometimes felt sorry for her but normally not for long as she was dealing misery to all who had to be associated with her through her childish, selfish, nature. What judge would require a bailiff to furnish snacks and drinks to juries and not offer reimbursement? ...just to mention 1 of hundreds of instances.
   
   Poor thing kept the post-it notes company in business. Post-it notes reminding her of what the criminal laws were...were stuck all over her bench and chambers. She was advised by the other presiding judges of rules, laws, procedures, in order to avoid embarrassment to the Harris County justice system and possible grounds for appeal. She did not take kindly to "any" criticism as if she was being unfairly persecuted.
   
   I can truthfully say that this lady did not gain the respect of anyone employed in the Harris County Criminal Courts building for her prowess as a criminal courts judge or on a personal basis.
   
   As mentioned earlier ... traffic court was her forte. You should notice that her 1st term as a criminal court judge was her last term as a criminal court judge. Even MADD whom she swayed to promote her election as a criminal court judge was appalled by her actions. And, MADD wrote her off as a mistake.
   
   Read the book but remember the grain of salt.



3. Judge Law certainly captures your attention through excellent, entertaining writing giving the public a rare glimpse into our legal system. She uses her judge/journalist background to give us a fascinating peek behind-the-bench and at court house politics.
   
   Judge Law's diary of her tumultuous first year on the criminal bench contains marvelous anecdotes of humorous and poignant court room drama. But on a larger scale, Yield also explores the shocking inequities of the Texas criminal court system where judges are elected in often brutal partisan political combat, lawyers who practice before the courts contribute to the judges' political campaigns, and the judges appoint lawyers to represent indigent defendants.
   
   Judge Law dramatically shows why there is a $ sign in Yield's subtitle.