Listening to the Law

Reflections on the Court and Constitution

De: Amy Coney Barrett

Narrado por: January LaVoy, Amy Coney Barrett

From Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a glimpse of her journey to the Court and an account of her approach to the Constitution

Since her confirmation hearing, Americans have peppered Justice Amy Coney Barrett with questions. How has she adjusted to the Court? What is it like to be a Supreme Court justice with school-age children? Do the justices get along? What does her normal day look like? How does the Court get its cases? How does it decide them? How does she decide?

In Listening to the Law, Justice Barrett answers these questions and more. She lays out her role (and daily life) as a justice, touching on everything from her deliberation process to dealing with media scrutiny. With the warmth and clarity that made her a popular law professor, she brings to life the making of the Constitution and explains her approach to interpreting its text. Whether sharing stories of clerking for Justice Scalia or walking listeners through prominent cases, she invites listeners to wrestle with originalism and to embrace the rich heritage of our Constitution.

*Includes a downloadable PDF of the Appendix from the book

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2025 Amy Coney Barrett (P)2025 Penguin Audio

Explanation

A little too much legal information but very interesting. Very clear and understandable. ++ Thanks
JM

Tremendous insights

This is a must read or listen in my case to anyone that wants to get a picture of the inter workings of the Court. She is truly remarkable me in her presentation to the law and the Constitution . This is a must read for everyone including and most importantly, the members of Congress that don’t understand the Law.

Bolsters faith in our constitutional system

Justice Barrett writes well and provides interesting information and insights about how the federal judiciary functions and the role of judges. I didn’t know much about her but am impressed. She is a clear thinker and comes across as well-qualified for her position and fair in her judgment. As a non-lawyer, I found the book interesting. Also, the narrator was outstanding; one of the best I’ve heard.

Very informative and enjoyable.

I've always been impressed by Justice Barrett and this book was even better than l thought it would be. It has great insights on both the inner workings of the supreme court and the constitution.

Clear and concise text.

Tough topics reduced to clear and understandable next. Thought provoking on the values of our constitutional democracy

Informative

I particularly liked the explanations of the Constitution and Bill of Rights and how they evolved. Loved the entire book. Well done.

A worthy companion to Justic Gorsuch's "A Rebuplic, If You Can Keep It"

Does a fine job of explaining Originalism, the legal theory that questions of constitutionality should be resolved by interpretation what the Founder's meant when they created to Constitution. The first half is largely autobiographical and peppered with interesting facts about how the Supreme Court functions. Did you know that in the first round of voting on a case they start with the longest serving Justices and work through the order based on seniority? Did you know that in the era before enough cases were settled to establish precedent it was common for Justices to quote the Bible and Greek mythology in their opinions? Perhaps most fascinating: in the early days of the Court, there was a standing agreement that they would only consume wine on nights before sessions if it was raining. Not to worry, the Chief Justice would always order an underling to the window to give a weather report, which was then dismisses with "Well, our jurisdiction is so vast that the law of chances means that it has to be raining somewhere."

The second half of the book is a deeper dive into Textualism (a common synonym for Originalism) and it somewhat hamstrung by the current political climate. The author is a brilliant legal mind with an inspiring life story, but has to tread lightly on some very weighty cases because...she is not writing to address controversy; rather, she is trying to get the reader to understand Textualist rulings. The second half is therefore more challenging than the first, will frustrate cable news junkies, but perhaps shouldn't be criticized at all when my chief complaint is that it is challenging. (The language remains accessible and there are some fantastic examples: Does a green colored SUV parked in a parking space that reads "Green Vehicles Only" accord with a Textualist interl
interpretation of the rule? No...it does not.)

Fantastic read for Supreme Court aficionados; may frustrate you if you expect any comment on the politicization of the Court. Did I say may? I meant: will. That isn't what the Court does, despite what you see on TV.

Interesting Read

A good inner look at the workings of the Supreme Court and Justice Barrett’s perspective and philosophy.

Totally enjoyable

Well written and educational without being hard to understand
I feel I received first rate introduction to the Supreme Court and the American Judicial Systeml

I feel like I just learned so much!

I wasn’t sold on this book going on, but read it for a book club. I’m amazed at how much I learned about the court system and American law in a graspable way. This ended up being so worth it, and it really affected my perspective on what I will think going forward when I agree or disagree with Supreme Court decisions.