Out of Order: Arrogance, Corruption and Incompetence on the Bench

by Max Boot

Hear about the judge who got busted for selling crack? What about the judge who released from jail a felon who then promptly killed a rookie cop? Or the one who ordered a prison to supply its inmates with hot pots?In Out of Order: Arrogance, Corruption, and Incompetence on the Bench, investigative reporter Max Boot documents dozens of stories like these as he blows the whistle on the least publicized, the most destructive, branch of the government—the compelling statistics to support his belief that judges have greatly damaged both the criminal and civil justice systems.Boot criticizes well-known judges like Lance Ito, who presided over the O.J. Simpson follies, and Harold Baer, the New York judge who initially decided to exclude from evidence eighty pounds of drugs because he found nothing “unusual” about a courier fleeing from the cops. He reveals judges who have taken advantage of their office not only for personal gain, but also to gain greater political power.The “juristocracy,” as Boot calls it, has taken over the running of schools, prisons, and other institutions, with disastrous results: forced busing, which has led to white flight from inner-city schools; higher taxes, as judges have ordered more government spending, regardless of results; and greater social divisions, because judges have taken controversial issues like abortion out of the political arena. Rundowns of case after case reveal judges who have routinely overturned popular initiatives without legal right to do so, implemented controversial policies with no basis in law, and put millions of dollars into the pockets of undeserving plaintiffs.Following in the footsteps of the bestselling Death of Common Sense and Slouching Towards Gomorrah, Out of Order is a tightly reported, highly opinionated expose that should set off a national debate about the woeful state of our legal system. It also offers hope, by providing ways to improve the performance of the judiciary and reclaim its original role as servant of the people.

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Max Boot is a historian and biographer, best-selling author, and foreign-policy analyst. He is the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a weekly columnist for The Washington Post.

Max Boot’s biography of Ronald Reagan, Reagan: His Life and Legend, is his third New York Times bestseller. It was named one of the Ten Best Books of 2024 by the New York Times, and also made best-of-the-year lists from The New Yorker, The Washington Post and The Economist. It has been acclaimed as a "landmark work" (The New York Times), the "definitive biography" (The New Yorker), “magisterial" (The Washington Post), and “enormously readable and scrupulously honest” (The Sunday Times). Max Boot’s previous biography, The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam, was also a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in biography.

Reviews

[Frederick]

This somewhat dated book sounds a lot like political emails I get each day. It complains about the judicial system in a way that makes you think the author longs for better days; like maybe the Antebellum South or Al Capone's Chicago. Really, some of his complaints are simply stupid. I was particularly stunned at his idiotic comments about the Miranda Warning. Apparently, in his privileged community he had never had a run-in with the law as his naivete is astounding. Anyway, this is a book you can miss.

[Eric]

Boot tells many anecdotes about judges and their foibles. Has some potential ways in which to fix some of the problem, mostly incremental things such as Rep. Henry Hyde has recommended. - impeachment is NOT one of his favored choices

[Dragon]

The book cleverly used statistics and facts mixed with stories and anecdotes to persuade and inform the audience.
The reading was slow going at first, but what law reading is?

[David Vanness]

I don't give many Five-Stars, but this one deserves it. Max makes good sense and enlightens us. Every law and political science student should have this as required reading. An attempt to unseated a NW Hoosier Judge failed a few months ago. Not enough of his work was truly educated to the voters. This volume will be on my 'to reread' list.