Feldman tells the story of the battles and triumphs of FDR's great Supreme Court justices--four men who began as close allies and friends of Roosev...
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May 01, 2011
Tippy
rated it: 
I won this book as a goodreads first reads giveaway!
Perhaps it's because I haven't read enough history books, but I didn't realize that reading about FDR's Supreme Court justices would be like reading a soap opera. Geez, the drama was ridiculous.
I suppose I imagined this book would be more about the individual cases and their opinions than about who said what, befriended whom, offended so-and-so, etc., etc. But a lot of the book was about the dramas and perceived slights.
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Perhaps it's because I haven't read enough history books, but I didn't realize that reading about FDR's Supreme Court justices would be like reading a soap opera. Geez, the drama was ridiculous.
I suppose I imagined this book would be more about the individual cases and their opinions than about who said what, befriended whom, offended so-and-so, etc., etc. But a lot of the book was about the dramas and perceived slights.
More...
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Dec 03, 2011
Rusty
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Interesting book - lots of New Deal history and the background of the four particular Supreme Court justices addressed in this book. Roosevelt appointed nine justices - this book is about four of them: Felix Frankfurter, Hugo Black, Robert Jackson and William O. Douglas. These men were all considered liberals before their appointments, but they morphed as they sat on the court. Douglas is the only one who was considered a liberal throughout his service.
Something that surprised More...
Something that surprised More...
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Feb 03, 2011
Andy
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A thought provoking book about the four "Great" justices appointed by Franklin Roosevelt to the US Supreme Court. The book starts by giving a background of each of the Justices and their precourt relationship with Roosevelt. It then turns to the Supreme Court battles of the thirties where a majority found many of Roosevelt's New Deal laws to be unconstitutional.
Roosevelt's appointments to the Supreme Court changed the Court, no longer was any New Deal legislation going to b More...
Roosevelt's appointments to the Supreme Court changed the Court, no longer was any New Deal legislation going to b More...
Jan 31, 2011
Gordon
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A very good overview of four titanic Supreme Court justices appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hugo Black, Felix Frankfurter, William Douglas, and Robert Jackson. While the book necessarily skims over some important matters and is mildly gossipy, it has good, short summaries of major cases that the four justices agreed and disagreed about, and presents excellent information about the judicial philosophies of the four - how they agreed and disagreed. What isn't presented in any depth, and in fa
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Nov 28, 2010
judy
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I'm giving this 5 stars because the material is important--not because it offers a cohesive narrative. My mouth was open during most of it. Truly, I was constantly surprised. Scorpions is well named. The four Roosevelt-appointed justices upon whom it focuses (Frankfurter, Black, Douglas and Jackson)were often jealous, political, petty and vengeful. While I didn't find anyone I could admire, I will give each of them credit for having a carefully thought-out personal theory of the Constitution
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Nov 10, 2010
Kathy
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Scorpions – the title references a description of the Supreme Court Justices as “nine scorpions in a bottle” – is the story of four widely different justices all appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt. These four, Hugo Black, Felix Frankfurter, Robert Jackson and William O. Douglas could not have been more dissimiliar. Frankfurter, a Jew was perhaps the most liberal voice in the country when Roosevelt appointed him to the court. Black was a southern country lawyer former KKK member with an altoge
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Feb 28, 2011
Sally
rated it:
What makes a Supreme Court justice great? Is it the cases they work on? The decisions the Court makes? The individual writings? Their character?
Feldman's book is a staggering read. It clocks in at 430 pages, with an additional 60 pages of notes. It requires concentration to go through the pages of biography and decision-making. At times, what I read was astounding. While these four men and the 'Roosevelt Court' has influenced the Supreme Court of today, I'm not sure they made for goo More...
Feldman's book is a staggering read. It clocks in at 430 pages, with an additional 60 pages of notes. It requires concentration to go through the pages of biography and decision-making. At times, what I read was astounding. While these four men and the 'Roosevelt Court' has influenced the Supreme Court of today, I'm not sure they made for goo More...
Feb 20, 2012
Matt
rated it:
Really engaging -- I liked the portrait of Justices Jackson, Frankfurter, Douglas, and Black very much. It was also striking how incredibly petty their vicious disagreements were. Sometimes I felt like I was reading a mash-up of a history of legal intellectuals and a really lame episode of Real World: Washington, DC (or an episode of Full House where people decide that maybe it's not worth it to forgive each other's minor faults, after all).
Having seen as a law student where these justi More...
Having seen as a law student where these justi More...
Aug 02, 2011
Collective biography of the core four FDR Supreme Court justices (Frankfurter, Black, Douglas, Jackson), tracing the development of their legal thinking through their early lives (all self-made men, the last to go to the SCOTUS without full formal legal training) and political expectations into the workings of their theories of originalism, pragmatism, realism, judicial restraint and constitutional history. Jackson's Nuremberg approach is fully analyzed, especially in the context of how the Bri
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Apr 28, 2011
Phil
rated it:
Noah Feldman teaches law at Harvard, & his name was familiar to me as I saw Scorpions on the library shelf.
It was a delight to get to know the "Roosevelt Court," as he calls the 9 justices FDR appointed, four of whom came to evolve four distinct philosophies of the Constitution.
Robert Jackson was not a justice known to me, yet Feldman makes him out, in some ways, to be the greatest of the Roosevelt justices.
Douglas (longest serving of any justice to date) More...
It was a delight to get to know the "Roosevelt Court," as he calls the 9 justices FDR appointed, four of whom came to evolve four distinct philosophies of the Constitution.
Robert Jackson was not a justice known to me, yet Feldman makes him out, in some ways, to be the greatest of the Roosevelt justices.
Douglas (longest serving of any justice to date) More...
Jan 27, 2011
Harry
rated it:
The importance of the U S Supreme Court in our political life is difficult to overstate. This is a history of a transitional period seen through the lens of the lives and jurisprudence of four men, all appointed by Franklin Roosevelt. The book can be divided into two parts, the first having to do with the life experiences and professional development of these four men, in the context of the events of the time. This was the more interesting portion of the book to me. Very accessible and reada
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Nov 15, 2011
Brad
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As discussed in my review of Supreme Power, Franklin Roosevelt had an early problem with the Supreme Court. But by the time he died, he appointed seven of the nine justices, and promoted the Chief Justice. In his book Scorpions: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR's Great Supreme Court Justices, Noah Feldman ably lays out how Roosevelt's appointments, particularly of four justices, would change Constitutional law, and by extension, America, for generations to come.
The title comes from a qu More...
The title comes from a qu More...
Dec 05, 2010
Tony
rated it:
This started off badly. By page 34, discussing Franklin Roosevelt's battle with polio, Feldman writes:
Drawing on reserves of personal strength even he did not know he had, the man to whom everything had come so easily rehabilitated himself until he was strong enough to run for governor of New York in 1928.
Really? Perhaps it was a miracle then. At least we know early on in Scorpions that Feldman will not be objective when it comes to FDR. And indeed he was not. Sometimes More...
Drawing on reserves of personal strength even he did not know he had, the man to whom everything had come so easily rehabilitated himself until he was strong enough to run for governor of New York in 1928.
Really? Perhaps it was a miracle then. At least we know early on in Scorpions that Feldman will not be objective when it comes to FDR. And indeed he was not. Sometimes More...
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Dec 04, 2011
Matt
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A phenomenal book that details the tenures of four of the most interesting Supreme Court justices to sit on the Court; Black, Douglas, Frankfurter and Jackson. Black-a former clan member-eventually helped lead the way (with some assistance from timely deaths of other justices) to a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Douglas had tremendous political aspirations, nearly twice becoming the vice presidential nominee (Truman became the nominee the first time.) He was the third Chai
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Aug 29, 2011
Joey
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I love me a good biography. But I love me more a good biography that goes beyond narrating a life or capturing a period in history. "Scorpions" is part biography, part political history, and part constitutional history. And I just felt like Feldman pushed all the right buttons.
Perhaps this book's strongest point is that it ably explains the state of current constitutional law by exploring its modern roots in the New Deal's birth and the explosion of civil rights and individua More...
Perhaps this book's strongest point is that it ably explains the state of current constitutional law by exploring its modern roots in the New Deal's birth and the explosion of civil rights and individua More...
Sep 12, 2011
Jim
rated it:
Very well written account of FDR's great supreme court justices, all of them appointed in the late 30's / early 1940's. The book covers the back story of each of the four justice's lives leading up to their individual appointments, which is quite revealing. The decisions they find themselves embroiled in - internments of the Japanese during WW2, Brown vs Board of education, etc... - probably represent the most compelling aspects of the book. I don't know much about legal history, so I can say
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Jul 29, 2011
This is an extremely readable story about the supreme court before during and after the Roosevelt administration, which was a highly active time for the court--with some real icons of history--Brandeis, Frankfurter, Black, Holmes, and what they did, why they did it and the effect it had. I know very little about the machinations of the court, but this was a pleasant way to see the court packing plan from their point of view, and what went into getting a decision in Brown v. Board that set the c
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Mar 23, 2011
Mary
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A very interesting book, though I wish Feldman had spent a bit more time on the opinions and dissents of individual justices, and their importance. It was, at times, difficult to distinguish Roosevelt's allegedly "great" justices from the not-so-great ones because so many of the most famous decisions issued by the courts they served on were botched, weirdly-motivated, or just wrong, as in the case of Korematsu v. United States (where 3 of the 4 "great" justices Feldman focus
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Nov 01, 2011
Bev
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Thanks to the marvelous Cheryl over at CMash Loves to Read, I won this very interesting historical book: Scorpions: The Battles & Triumphs of FDR's Great Supreme Court Justices by Noah Feldman. In a nutshell, this book tells the story of four great justices: their relationship with Roosevelt, with each other, and with the turbulent world of the Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War. It also serves as a history of the modern Constitution itself, exploring the constitutional battles of
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Oct 25, 2011
Laura
rated it:
Good fun. Wish I knew more history so I could engage with it more. Rather than a traditional review, this is the email I abused my official email to send to the author:
Just finished your book, Scorpions
Enjoyed it a great deal. I've been clerking at the Washington State Supreme Court for some time, mostly only concerned with the USSC in terms of not having any of the opinions I've done heavy lifting on reviewed (which I'm proud to say I have not been even though my cou More...
Just finished your book, Scorpions
Enjoyed it a great deal. I've been clerking at the Washington State Supreme Court for some time, mostly only concerned with the USSC in terms of not having any of the opinions I've done heavy lifting on reviewed (which I'm proud to say I have not been even though my cou More...
Mar 10, 2011
Chris
rated it:
Interesting take on the relationship between FDR and 4 SCOTUS justices he appointed, Hugo Black, Felix Frankfurter, Robert Jackson and William O. Douglas. I am not a lawyer so I would love a perspective from someone who has taken Con Law to judge the quality of the analysis of the decisions. For example, is Robert Jackson's Youngstown decision the most important decision on executive power of the last 50 years? I don't know. All I know is that Feldman covered Black, Frankfurter and Jackson well
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Jan 19, 2011
Trent
rated it:
I was fortunate to have received a free copy of Scorpions as part of the First Reads program here on GR, otherwise I may have overlooked it altogether. While I enjoy legal and political non-fiction, a history of four Supreme Court justices of a bygone era doesn’t sound like the most gripping material. And that’s where I would have been wrong.
Far from the staid and colorless personalities one envisions when thinking of those taking a seat on the bench of the highest court in the land More...
Far from the staid and colorless personalities one envisions when thinking of those taking a seat on the bench of the highest court in the land More...
Apr 27, 2011
Harold
rated it:
This is a really good book, particularly for lawyers. The politics and infighting of these four titans makes an interesting story. The only drawback is that, like many books on supreme court justices, much of the action is a description and snippets of opinions. The protagonists fight with words and ideas. Swords and bullets are sometimes more interesting. But they can be just as petty and emotional and egocentric as teenagers. Scorpions indeed. Teenagers are worse.
Dec 30, 2011
Alex
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I give this four stars because it is a compelling read and a good work of popular history.
The problem with the book, from my perspective, is that it did not spend enough time analyzing these men's work as justices. This is not to say that non-lawyers won't find the book informative or that even lawyers who don't know much about constitutional law will not learn from it, but if you are someone who already has a firm grasp on constitutional law in the 20th century, I doubt this book w More...
The problem with the book, from my perspective, is that it did not spend enough time analyzing these men's work as justices. This is not to say that non-lawyers won't find the book informative or that even lawyers who don't know much about constitutional law will not learn from it, but if you are someone who already has a firm grasp on constitutional law in the 20th century, I doubt this book w More...
Jan 29, 2011
David
rated it:
Excellent book! Both a biography of the four great Supreme Court Justices appointed by FDR (Black, Franfurter, Jackson, Douglas) and a great description of the workings of the Court and the interpretation of the Constitution. The great debates ongoing today about how to interpret the Constitution can find their intellectual underpinnings in the opinions of these four Justices.
May 17, 2011
Gail
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I haven't read a history book in years. This book was fascinating. The author delved deeply into who these men were and what motivated them to adopt their individual perspectives on the meaning of the constitution. The FDR appointees began as loyal allies of FDR and even as friends, and several of them ended up hating each other. Their stories expose the political intrigues that helped put each of them on the Supreme Court, and how they adapted to their permanent tenures there--some who were gr
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Jan 30, 2011
Lee Ann
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I enjoyed this book a great deal. I found it compelling and very interesting reading. The power of the supreme court and how it was changed and impacted by Roosevelt administration is amazing. The personalities, battles (personal, emotion, and legal) come together to make me appreciate even more the work of the court and how it's impact has changed over the years.
Mar 07, 2011
Paul
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what an insight into the workings of the Supreme Court. What a lawyer could love? The different opinions that existed in this august institution and the different philosophies that arise from the many different backgrounds of the justices. It was eye opening.
Jan 23, 2012
Joanna
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Part biography of Hugo Black, Felix Frankfurter, William Douglas, and Robert Jackson, part review of their theories of constitutional law, I don't know how much appeal this book would have to a non-lawyer, but I found it fascinating. The stories of how these four justices came to know Franklin D. Roosevelt such that they were appointed to the court was great and the details of the infighting between the justices made the book lovely to listen to.
The narrator for the unabridged audio More...
The narrator for the unabridged audio More...
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Nov 05, 2011
John
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One of the finest books on the Supreme Court justices during the Roosevelt and Truman administrations. A wonderful glimpse into who they were and how the court changed them. One wishes these men were on the US Supreme Court today
