Nine Black Robes

Inside the Supreme Court's Drive to the Right and Its Historic Consequences

By: Joan Biskupic

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times Editor's Choice

"Biskupic, an accomplished and well-sourced journalist, knows the court as well as anyone now covering it... In her new book Biskupic has done something different and a good deal harder. She has written a group narrative that combines close accounts of the court's public business in the Trump years with a history of its private dramas and conflicts... The deeper message of 'Nine Black Robes' is that even with a new president in office we remain captive to the Age of Trump... A quiet urgency ripples through this informative, briskly paced and gracefully written book."—New York Times Book Review

"Biskupic opens a window onto the opaque, insular world of the justices to show an institution sinking gradually into crisis . . . Biskupic is a longtime chronicler of the court, and "Nine Black Robes" puts on display her connections within its chambers."—Washington Post

"[Biskupic] knows how to make news and illuminate the personalities atop the judicial org chart . . . The book reveals unseen sausage-making . . ."—Wall Street Journal

"Fascinating and informative . . . [Biskupic's] long experience covering the court . . . has put her in an incomparable position to comment on its make-up, historical positions and direction. It has also made her privy to many significant, little-known secrets about Supreme Court personalities and their historical behaviors."—The National Book Review

CNN Senior Supreme Court Analyst Joan Biskupic provides an urgent and inside look at the history-making era in the Supreme Court during the Trump and post-Trump years, from its seismic shift to the Right to its controversial decisions, including its reversal of Roe v. Wade, based on access to all the key players.

Nine Black Robes displays the inner maneuverings among the Supreme Court justices that led to the seismic reversal of Roe v. Wade and a half century of women’s abortion rights. Biskupic details how rights are stripped away or, alternatively as in the case of gun owners, how rights are expanded. Today’s bench—with its conservative majority—is desperately ideological. The Court has been headed rightward and ensnared by its own intrigues for years, but the Trump appointments hastened the modern transformation. With unparalleled access to key players, Biskupic shows the tactics of each justice and reveals switched votes and internal pacts that typically never make the light of day, yet will have repercussions for generations to come.

Nine Black Robes is the definitive narrative of the country’s highest court and its profound impact on all Americans.

©2023 Joan Biskupic (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Wow

This was very interesting! It gave great insight into what the justices do! I learned a lot!

Interesting but slanted

Was a nice overview of the court in recent years. However, the author had a specific view (very negative slant) of recent actions. I would have preferred a more balanced approach to better explain arguments on both sides so we understood better why they differed so greatly.

Another 3 star effort from Biskupic

As a lawyer who watches the Court closely more out of personal interest than work, I read most of Biskupic’s work. This one keeps up a consistent streak of meh. There is almost nothing in here that you don’t already know if you watch the court at all. She provides excessive background and does not make good choices about anecdotes worth delving deeply into. She often veers off into stories from the Justices backgrounds that just aren’t interesting. While the media holds her out as more of an objective “just the facts” reporter, she is not. Her bias to the left is a notch or two above subtle. Having said all this, it’s definitely a worthwhile read for a non lawyer unfamiliar with the Court. She gets the facts mostly right and her writing style is clear and accessible. You can definitely learn a lot from this book too if you know nothing about the modern Court. If someone asked me for one book to get a good feel for the Roberts Court, this would be it.

Great book. Extremely relevant. Wonderful narrator

I really liked this book! I was introduced to the author when she was a guest on the strict scrutiny podcast she piqued my interest enough to get her book. I normally prefer books where the author narrates themselves but this narrator was fantastic.
The book itself is well thought out, historically informative, and a great read!
Definitely would recommend this book

How the Court moved hard to the right

This book is astonishing in its detail from caselaw, personal interviews, speeches. It offers a detailed portrait of the justices. Most interesting was how the justices negotiated rulings. The author also offers some excellent critiques of slight of hand in opinions. Of great interest to lawyers and general interest readers alike.

Excellent

As a non-attorney observer of the Supreme Court, I found this book interesting and informative. The writer seems to have good sources within the Court, enabling her to provide context and background for decisions. The narration was also excellent.

Excellent resource

This was great and so honest. The author is able to show day by day how democracy has collapsed under Republican rule!

a good, jumping off point for those interested in the inner machinations of the Supreme Court

As a non-lawyer court watcher, who regularly listens to legal podcasts and reads other work related to the current supreme court, I believe that this book is a good primer for someone looking to delve into the basics of why the Supreme Court is behaving as it is and the increasingly conservative direction it has taken. There are certainly stories which I would have liked to see greater detail in, but understand the need to edit such information. The cadence and writing of the book itself, as well as the choice of narrator, made the information contained within, if not easier to accept, at least easier to digest. I would certainly recommend this to a novice court watcher.

Excellent Source on the Supreme Court of Today

Great narrative about how Donald Trump and the Right have hijacked the Supreme Court, and how their decisions of today will also have a devastating impact on future generations.

Flows really well

I felt like the narrator was speaking to me instead of just reading words off a page. I picked up this audible book after listening to an episode of Strict Scrutiny and was worried that it’s be too technical/overly lecture-y. However, this story flowed like a gossip story that you just can’t help ease dropping on.