Justice on Trial

The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court

By: Mollie Hemingway, Carrie Severino

Narrated by: Mollie Hemingway, Carrie Severino

Justice Anthony Kennedy slipped out of the Supreme Court building on June 27, 2018, and traveled incognito to the White House to inform President Donald Trump that he was retiring, setting in motion a political process that his successor, Brett Kavanaugh, would denounce three months later as a "national disgrace" and a "circus."

Justice on Trial, the definitive insider's account of Kavanaugh's appointment to the Supreme Court, is based on extraordinary access to more than one hundred key figures--including the president, justices, and senators--in that ferocious political drama.

The Trump presidency opened with the appointment of Neil Gorsuch to succeed the late Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. But the following year, when Trump drew from the same list of candidates for his nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, the justice being replaced was the swing vote on abortion, and all hell broke loose.

The judicial confirmation process, on the point of breakdown for thirty years, now proved utterly dysfunctional. Unverified accusations of sexual assault became weapons in a ruthless campaign of personal destruction, culminating in the melodramatic hearings in which Kavanaugh's impassioned defense resuscitated a nomination that seemed beyond saving.

The Supreme Court has become the arbiter of our nation's most vexing and divisive disputes. With the stakes of each vacancy incalculably high, the incentive to destroy a nominee is nearly irresistible. The next time a nomination promises to change the balance of the Court, Hemingway and Severino warn, the confirmation fight will be even uglier than Kavanaugh's.

A good person might accept that nomination in the naïve belief that what happened to Kavanaugh won't happen to him because he is a good person. But it can happen, it does happen, and it just happened. The question is whether America will let it happen again.

A good man is hard to find.

This is an important story about a good man whose reputation was destroyed for no good reason. Hemingway and Severino deliver a detailed account of both the history of Supreme Court nominations and the Kavanaugh confirmation process.

Senators from both parties acted shamefully, breaking long-standing rules and out right lying, presumably to deny President Trump his right to choose a qualified nominee. Nevertheless it was the lazy and careless media that did the most damage to Justice Kavanaugh’s once sterling reputation.

Elections have consequences. Unfortunately it appears that most media outlets operate with no accountability.

It’s well read by both authors.

Lots of new background info

The authors did a great job collecting all this information and putting it all together. There is so much more that didn't see the light of day when all these events were taking place. The book adds to what was known about the maneuvering of the interest groups, how the nominee coped with the process and especially the behind the scenes Senate activities. Well worth a listen.

Excellent Book - A Must Read

This is a great story about the Justice Kavanaugh saga told by two excellent story tellers. Mollie Hemingway and Carrie Severino did a masterful job of putting together the entire story. And the added bonus is that they both read different sections of the book, I love it when the author(s) read their own book to us - it adds so much to the story.

I think everyone remotely interested in the very historic saga of the Kavanaugh confirmation story should read (listen) to this book. Bravo to the authors.

An informative read.

It's sad our country has dipped to such lows. We have only just begun to see how dark our elected leaders will fall for the ever elusive power hold. God bless Kavanaugh for his fortitude.

Very Informative

Narrated well, fascinating story. A lot of behind the scenes information & divided well between two narrators (the authors).