The ultimate insider, Sarah Isgur takes the reader on a deep dive inside America’s Supreme Court, how cases land at the court’s doorstep, which justices attend clerk happy-hours and which ones even bother showing up to the office, why Conservatives already have buyer’s remorse about Amy Comey Barrett, and how the whole judicial system is itself, well, a. kind of constitutional anomaly.
Blending irreverent humour and incisive commentary, Isgur goes behind the cloaks and gowns— and shows what needs to be done to preserve the rule of law amid dicey times in this little self-governing experiment that’s been running for the last 250 years.
Most people get the Supreme Court all wrong. That includes the Washington “insiders”. A smattering of high-profile decisions have popularised a simplistic idea of the court and its nine justices. Yes, six of them were appointed by Republicans, and only three were appointed by a Democrat President. So how does the 6-3 conservative majority explain why liberal Elena Kagan and conservative Samuel Alito agreed with each other over 60% of the time in a recent term? Or why the court threw shade at Florida’s attempt to ban drag shows?
To truly appreciate the nine justices of the Supreme Court, Isgur argues, you have to look beyond political affiliation. That’s only part of the story. They vary from order- loving institutionalists to true chaos agents. In reality the effect of the cases the court takes, when they take them, and how they get decided. And, when you appreciate its nuances , you’ll see the court looks a lot like 3-3-3 than 6-3.
It’s truly a myth-busting looksie into the inner workings of the Supreme Court in the “Roberts era” revealing what we get wrong about the nine justices and just what they do eat for lunch. Isgur explains it out straight— how to fix the court the right way out of the crisis its in. She is a witty co-host of the top legal podcast in the US and a popular pundit of top rating ABCNews. Who would have thought that at this time and place in American history, a book about the Supreme Court would delight a readership.
Isgur pulls a rabbit out of a hat, an amazing feat, ignoring the evolving hellscape that is the current U.S. political climate. She does the maths and finds that the court is not nearly as divided across political lines as we think. She infuses the narrative with humour, but also positivity. She has Republican leanings but search as you might, you wont find a single derogatory or mocking anyone in court.
To reinvigorate one’s jaded or hackneyed views on politics, or even renew one’s faith in politics this book is essential for all those that feel that one side of the aisle is evil and the other good, read this. Can you accept the 3-3-3 ratio? A Kagan-Sotmayor-Jackson? or Alito-Thomas-Gorsuch?? Or Roberts-Barrett and…. Kavanaugh??? Or do Gorsuch and Kavanaugh switch?
LAST BRANCH STANDING is delightfully surprising with succinct wit. A great read for anyone who has had enough of the flaming rhetoric that floods every SCOTUS decision, masking the actual decision, or someone who wants to better understand the process. The justices’ partisan philosophy and their position on institutionalism make more sense in understanding the court’s decisions and alliances as compared to the partisan split we imagine. I loved the clerk culture, how they select cases and why, as well as functioning as an outlier to the other two branches of government. Each section is fascinating, well written with clever humour and enough trivia footnotes to keep the pundits’ asking for more. She writes for the layperson to make it informative and entertaining….a rare gift.
