Supreme Disorder: Judicial Nominations and the Politics of America's Highest Court

by Ilya Shapiro Narrated by Fred Stella

Overview

The brutal confirmation battles we saw over Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh are symptoms of a larger problem with our third branch of government, a problem that began long before Kavanaugh, Merrick Garland, Clarence Thomas, or even Robert Bork: the courts' own self-corruption, aiding and abetting the expansion of federal power.

Ilya Shapiro, director of the Cato Institute's Center for Constitutional Studies, takes readers inside the unknown history of fiercely partisan judicial nominations and explores reform proposals that could return the Supreme Court to its proper constitutional role. Confirmation battles over justices will only become more toxic and unhinged as long as the Court continues to ratify the excesses of the other two branches of government and the parties that control them. Only when the Court begins to rebalance constitutional order, curb administrative overreach, and return power back to the states will the bitter partisan war to control the judiciary finally end.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Supreme Disorder is a strikingly original work by one of the country's sharpest legal minds on our manifestly broken judicial appointment process. Ilya doesn't just diagnose the problem and prescribe solutions; he offers a refreshingly balanced history of our nation's most august institution. A must read for anyone interested in the Supreme Court."
—MIKE LEE, Republican senator from Utah

"A remarkably concise, even-handed, highly accessible, well-researched, deftly written account of every Supreme Court nominee of every president from George Washington to today. An indispensable resource for understanding our constitutional history and how we got to where we are with judicial nominations. Anyone with any interest in constitutional law needs to read this book. I will be recommending it to my students.”

—RANDY E. BARNETT, professor, Georgetown University Law Center, and author of Our Republican Constitution: Securing the Liberty and Sovereignty of We the People

"With aging justices, the membership of the Supreme Court is certain to soon change, possibly along with its ideological balance-setting the stage for confirmation fights every bit as heated as our most recent ones. Ilya Shapiro has written the essential guide for these times, helping us understand how we got here and offering solutions for a better way. Mandatory reading now, and a comprehensive reference you will want to keep nearby to consult in real-time as the battles over the shape and future of our most prestigious institution unfold."
—JAN CRAWFORD, chief legal correspondent, CBS News, and author of Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States

"In this engaging and insightful history of the pitched battles over Supreme Court nominations since America's earliest days, Ilya Shapiro shows how the confirmation process went awry-and why only the Court itself, by checking the other branches and issuing rulings that will be perceived as legitimate, can fix it."

—ADAM WINKLER, law professor, UCLA, and member of the board of directors of the American Constitution Society and the Brennan Center for Justice

Product Details

BN ID:	2940176359909
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	09/22/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

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