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Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court

Mollie Hemingway,

Carrie Severino

4.48 · Rating details · 1,657 ratings · 294 reviews

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER!

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.”

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Kindle Edition, 375 pages

Published July 9th 2019 by Regnery Publishing

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Jul 19, 2019 Scott rated it it was amazing

Shelves: politics, non-fiction

This book is a thorough, compelling, and well-documented account of the Kavanaugh confirmation process that soon devolved into a bizarre political circus.

The book is especially valuable, in my view, because it portrays with unmistakeable clarity the role of the mainstream media. The most prominent media outlets, from the outset, played a leading role in the anti-Kavanaugh campaign. There was not even a pretense of objectivity or balance: most of the media wanted Kavanaugh defamed and defeated ju ...more

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Dec 02, 2020 Beth Haynes rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, politics

Fascinating story of the Kavanaugh confirmation, intertwined with the historical background on past confirmation hearings and the rising politicization of the Supreme Court. The authors openly support Kavanaugh and his textualist philosophy of legal interpretation. They also were eyewitnesses to much of the public spectacle. Even though I knew how it all ends, the suspenseful storytelling gripped me to the end, wanting to know the specific details of how the events would unfold.
Particularly enl ...more

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Oct 05, 2019 Feng Ouyang rated it liked it · review of another edition

The title sounds like a book on political science of legal philosophy. However, this book actually focuses on the play-by-play stories behind the dramatic stories around the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Bret Cavanaugh in 2018. The only exceptions are the beginning of the book, where Trump’s effort of installing originalist judges was reviewed, and the last chapter of the book, where the author argued for the originalist approach to the legal system.
The author is not a neutral journalis The title sounds like a book on political science of legal philosophy. However, this book actually focuses on the play-by-play stories behind the dramatic stories around the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Bret Cavanaugh in 2018. The only exceptions are the beginning of the book, where Trump’s effort of installing originalist judges was reviewed, and the last chapter of the book, where the author argued for the originalist approach to the legal system.
The author is not a neutral journalist but a biased conservative, as shown in her credential (senior editor at The Federalist) and her legal discussions mentioned above. However, the book is an enjoyable and engaging recount of the perhaps most dramatic Supreme Court confirmation in the century. Nonetheless, because of the author’s bias, I cannot be sure such a recount is accurate.
What strikes me most after reading the book is how dirty politics can be. The Supreme Court is supposed to be a branch of the Federal Government that is apolitical. The justices are supposed to make decisions based on their independent expertise on the constitution and other legal matters. However, especially over the past decade or two, the Supreme Court, at least its nomination process, has been sucked into the increasing polarizing political processes. It is a norm not only for the politicians but also for grassroots activists that a justice candidate is supported or opposed not based on his professional qualifications but on his political affiliations (i.e., who nominated him) and maybe his political inclinations.
What's more alarming is that people would try to achieve their goal in the confirmation process by any means, abandoning any consideration of fairness, constitutionality, or even basic human decency. And there is no accountability for the actors. If this process is the microcosm of our political operation, it is really saddening.
Another revelation I got from the book is how free people become in making ridiculous statements without being challenged. Many people said at the time that supporting Kavanaugh equals supporting rapists, never mind that the linkage between the two has been debunked by public hearing and FBI investigation. People also equate empathy and support for the victims of sexual assault to unconditionally believing any story a woman tells, even if it can potentially destroy the life of an innocent man. These statements do not help the progressive course; instead, they damage the credibility of the whole movement.
The book is also interesting in its portrayal of President Trump as a “normal” president, who was effective and firm in choosing Kavanaugh and supporting him through the process. This is a picture very different from descriptions of Trump by other books and by the media. Based on my impression of Trump's speeches and tweets, I find such normalcy hard to believe.
Overall, this book is an enjoyable reading. However, a reader should do due diligence before accepting the conclusions and implications.
...more

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Jan 02, 2020 Mike Warren rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The rancor and partisanship that began with the 2016 election of Donald Trump as president reached a new high in the summer of 2018 when President Trump announced the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court as a replacement for the recently-retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. In their insightful book, Mollie Hemingway and Carrie Severino provide a behind-the-scenes look at the Kavanaugh confirmation. If you followed the confirmation hearings and thought they seemed bitter and nasty, jus The rancor and partisanship that began with the 2016 election of Donald Trump as president reached a new high in the summer of 2018 when President Trump announced the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court as a replacement for the recently-retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. In their insightful book, Mollie Hemingway and Carrie Severino provide a behind-the-scenes look at the Kavanaugh confirmation. If you followed the confirmation hearings and thought they seemed bitter and nasty, just wait till you hear the details.

To understand why the Kavanaugh confirmation was so contentious, it is important to understand the history of Supreme Court confirmations and the current state of our government, and Hemingway and Severino do an excellent job of presenting this information in terms that are easily understood by the lay reader. The general thesis of the book is that, in recent decades, the legislative process has gradually been undermined by the administrative state and judicial fiat.

Unelected government bureaucrats working for administrative agencies have been given broad but oftentimes vague powers by the enabling legislation that Congress drafted to create the agency. These bureaucrats have the power to create laws without the burden of the traditional legislative process. They simply announce a rule, take comments and show at least some pretense of taking those comments into consideration. Voila! Instant law!

Many conservatives view this as a means of bypassing the legislative process intended by the Constitution, and many liberals view this as an opportunity to avoid the messy process of pushing bills through Congress and gaining the support of a president. The Supreme Court, depending on your perspective, is either a firewall against the administrative state or a tool for further increasing the scope and power of the administrative state.

However, the Supreme Court itself has frequently shown a tendency to short circuit the legislative process by creating laws through judicial fiat. Roe vs. Wade has become the best known and most important example of judicial fiat, and even ardent supporters of the pro-life movement have expressed concerns about the ability of just 5 people to arbitrarily create laws that impact millions of people. For example, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, an ardent defender of the right to abortion, has said, to "step boldly in front of the political process" was wrong "because it halted a political process that was moving in a reform direction and thereby, I believe, prolonged divisiveness and deferred stable settlement of the issue." And, of course, laws that are created by 5 people can be overturned by 5 people, and the possibility of a conservative majority overturning Roe vs. Wade is the specter that has haunted liberal court observers since Roe went into effect in 1973.

As the authors explain, the failure to establish a consistent conservative majority is one of the most significant failures of Republican presidential leadership dating all the way back to Eisenhower. From the beginning of the Eisenhower administration through the end of the Obama administration, Republican presidents appointed 18 Supreme Court justices while Democratic presidents only appointed 8. Yet, over that period of time, the Supreme Court has rarely had more than a 5-4 conservative majority. Such notable liberals as Earl Warren, Warren Burger and David Souter were all appointed by Republican presidents.

The tendency for Republican presidents to appoint liberal justices can best be explained by Democratic majorities in the Senate, but Democrats in the Senate, regardless of the number of seats they hold, have demonstrated a willingness to tenaciously fight appointments by Republican presidents, and the best example of this was the Democrats' successful effort to defeat the appointment of Robert Bork to the court in 1987.

With the defeat of Bork, President Reagan appointed a more moderate candidate: Anthony Kennedy, and it was Kennedy's retirement that set the stage for the bitter confirmation battle that is the subject of this book. This time, the Republicans held a slight majority in the Senate, but, because Kennedy had represented the swing vote on the court, the Senate Democrats seemed determined to fight the appointment even before Trump announced a candidate.

A well-known judge in the court of appeals in the DC circuit, Kavanaugh had a long history in Washington and an impressive resume, and with Republican Senator Chuck Grassley heading the Judiciary Committee, the Republicans hoped to quickly get the nomination out of committee and before the entire Senate.

Initially, the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee tried all of the usual stalling tactics, but a successful vote to get the nomination in front of the full Senate seemed inevitable until Senator Dianne Feinstein's staff leaked a letter from a California constituent named Christine Blasey Ford to the press. In the letter, Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault at a party they both allegedly attended while in high school.

I read the hardback edition of this book, and the letter is first mentioned on Page 121 of a 315 page, excluding notes, book. The fallout from that letter consumes the rest of the book, and it is, of course, the most important part of this story. Most readers are likely already aware of the basic details of the story, but the authors do a good job of pulling back the curtain and fully exposing this squalid chapter of American history.

I had hoped for an entirely objective version of events, but a cursory review of the About the Authors information revealed that this book wasn't likely to be objective. Hemingway is a contributor to Fox News and Severino is chief counsel for the Judicial Crisis Network, which was part of the team that advised Kavanaugh throughout the confirmation. As expected, the book has an obvious pro-Kavanaugh bias, but a certain sense of objectivity prevails thanks to the abundance of detail provided throughout the book. Each allegation against Kavanaugh is exhaustively scrutinized, and, even if the information seems designed to provide a defense, it eventually becomes clear that these allegations were a hoax. My only complaint, and it is significant, is that as the book progresses the portrayal of Kavanaugh becomes increasingly hagiographic. I don't believe Kavanaugh assaulted Ford or any of his other accusers, but I doubt he is the choir boy portrayed by the authors.

Regardless, this is a story that needs to be told. As the authors point out near the end of the book, this method of obstruction has become an important tool in the Democrats' political toolbox. The next appointment to the Supreme Court is likely to be the replacement for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. If Trump makes the appointment, the bitter and divisive confirmation battle for Kavanaugh may seem like child's play compared to what the Democrats have in store for the candidate intended to replace one of their liberal icons. ...more

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Aug 09, 2019 Robert Melnyk rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Excellent book about the Kavanaugh confirmation. I've watched Mollie Hemingway as an analyst on Fox News and have always found her to be fair and honest. She would base her arguments on reason and facts. She has done the same with this book. I watched the Kavanaugh confirmation process as it happened. Hemingway does an excellent job of describing those events, but also gives details of things that went on behind the scenes that you did not see or know about by simply watching the news coverage. ...more

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Dec 30, 2019 Beth rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is an important book for all to read as it tells the true tale of the extent evil democrats will go to to ensure the protection of the killing of innocent babies through abortion.

If you don’t think that was the reason why democrats immediately went to the mat against whoever (they didn’t even know who yet!) trump would nominate for the Supreme Court then you are really ignorant and stupid. Get a clue! These immoral and disgusting people made up vicious lies about a stellar man and hurt num ...more

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Sep 08, 2019 Ramona Paetzold rated it did not like it · review of another edition

A poorly researched presentation of “liberal” and “conservative” justices, really intended to support J. Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court. As any person with a J.D. know, appointments are highly political and controlled by the President and the Senate. The head of the Judiciary Committee can sway outcomes (hence, an unqualified and harassing Thomas sits on the court; Garland did not get to be considered). The myth of “originalism” among conservatives is promoted, even though many SCO ...more

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Feb 14, 2020 Dwayne Roberts rated it liked it

Recommended to Dwayne by: Goodreads

The politicization of a Supreme Court nominee, the unjust accusations and illogic, are distressing. That our senate is so irrational and vicious makes me want to cry.
The story is told from a conservative/Republican POV, and tends to make themselves sound virtuous; perhaps, but I'm more inclined to believe that they are, instead, less evil than the left.
I believe that Justice Kavanaugh will be a fair judge and a protector of The Constitution. I hope he doesn't prove me wrong. ...more

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Aug 05, 2019 Chris rated it it was amazing

Excellent book on a disaster of a confirmation for a Supreme Court Justice. This book provides an excellant timeline and description of events for those, like me, who got a bit confused in the hoopla surrounding the confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh. Highly recommended reading and about as objective as you can get, in my opinion.

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Oct 14, 2019 Bridget rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Overall, pretty good. It includes a good deal of inside information I wasn’t aware of at the time all this happened, and much of it seems fairly treated. But it would have been an even better book without some of the editorializing, particularly near the end.

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Jul 29, 2019 Joe Duffus rated it really liked it · review of another edition

As good as it is, this book unfortunately won't reach the people who should read it. It won't reach Dianne Feinstein, or her truly callous minions who leaked Christine Ford's letter to the press and began the entire disgusting episode. It won't be read by the arrogant Sheldon Whitehouse, nor the pathetic Cory Booker, the obnoxious Kamala Harris, the lying Dick Durbin, or the doddering Pat Leahy. And that's the problem, for all of us.

The story of now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing As good as it is, this book unfortunately won't reach the people who should read it. It won't reach Dianne Feinstein, or her truly callous minions who leaked Christine Ford's letter to the press and began the entire disgusting episode. It won't be read by the arrogant Sheldon Whitehouse, nor the pathetic Cory Booker, the obnoxious Kamala Harris, the lying Dick Durbin, or the doddering Pat Leahy. And that's the problem, for all of us.

The story of now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings includes his own heroism and guts. But no less does it involve the strength and courageous faith of his wife, Ashley, and of his many friends on all sides of the political divide who risked their careers and lost friends themselves because they stood with him. The authors masterfully tell us what was happening away from the committee hearings, in the dead of night, as Kavanaugh fought for confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court, first on his legal merits and then, because of a last-ditch effort at character-assassination, for his personal and professional life.

The book makes one thing abundantly clear... This will all happen again, and be even worse, unless people stand up and refuse to tolerate it any more. Unless Americans hammer it into the skulls of abortion-obsessed liberals that ends do not justify means. Until major news organs like the New York Times, the Washington Post, NBC, and CNN, realize that the responsibility to inform is not served by trafficking rumors for the sake of audience numbers, that allegations are not charges, rumors are not facts, un-returned phone calls are not the same as agreement.

The story is also about the dedicated people who worked so hard to challenge the lies being reported in the press, the lies being told to the cameras by Democrat senators, the lies being spread by bottom-feeders like Michael Avenatti and many others.

And what of Christine Blasey Ford, the winsome, clearly reluctant star of this show? The book lays out the case that she was little more than a plaything for the Democrats; her lawyers, both Democratic insiders, clearly did not have her best interests at heart. But that's not surprising because she was not really their client--the Democratic Party and the activist groups that direct it were. It's important to note, and this book does, that "activism" is not an activity in Washington, it's a multi-million dollar industry. And that industry, even more than most business lobbyists, has no sense of shame, no notion of fairness or humanity in pursuit of its goals. More often than not, the real goal is simply more money. That's why this will keep happening. And these activists were more than happy to drag this poor woman into the public eye for their own reasons.

As a comprehensive history of the Kavanaugh confirmation battle, this book may have been written too soon, and by authors too close to the details. Little effort is made to fairly present the opposing point of view on legal matters, for example, which would require a much longer book. But co-author Mollie Hemingway's journalism background assembles the story well. Carrie Severino, the other co-author, was intimately involved with the conservative Judicial Crisis Network organization that fought hard for Kavanaugh's confirmation. Their closeness to the events gave them access to interview President Trump, dozens of senators, key staffers, Supreme Court justices, law clerks, and Ford's and Kavanaugh's high school friends. Many of these people were burned by news reporters at the time because they defended Kavanaugh, or simply didn't knuckle under to pressure from others to shade or make up sinister details for the cameras.

This book is a very readable narrative of everything that happened, in and mostly out of the spotlight, as seen from the pro-Kavanaugh side. Frankly, I'd like to think that a similar book from the anti-Kavanaugh perspective will never be written, because anyone associated with that effort would be too ashamed to admit it, or want to take any "credit" for it. But again, refer to what I said above: "Activism" is a multi-million dollar industry in Washington. For what, exactly, matters less than how much fundraising you can do for it. Not a pretty picture. ...more

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Jul 17, 2019 Jaime rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: histories, up-from-liberalism

Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court, by Mollie Hemmingway and Carrie Severino

Most likely, you’ve read this story before—or at least know of it. This is the story of an accused witch, a handmaiden of the devil, a heretic. This is a tale as old as written history; it has its heroes, its supporting cast, and its central, amorphous villain hidden behind the eyes of hysterical woman and milquetoast men.

However, this time the story ends differently. No on Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court, by Mollie Hemmingway and Carrie Severino

Most likely, you’ve read this story before—or at least know of it. This is the story of an accused witch, a handmaiden of the devil, a heretic. This is a tale as old as written history; it has its heroes, its supporting cast, and its central, amorphous villain hidden behind the eyes of hysterical woman and milquetoast men.

However, this time the story ends differently. No one is marched to the gallows or burned at the stake—this one ends with the hero, battered and bruised, at the finish line. His name may forever be tarnished by falsity, but those of us who know the truth smile and walk off the scene, content, but wondering what the next battle will bring.

Hemmingway and Severino start at the beginning, giving us a glimpse of how President Trump made the choice to nominate Justice Kavanaugh. He was seen as the safe choice, the best bet. No one could have possibly foreseen what was bound to happen once he was nominated. They highlight the hard work done by members of the Federalist Society, the all-nighters pulled by Justice Kavanaugh’s friends and collogues in support of his nomination, the brave women who happily put their names on a letter detailing the Justice’s excellent character.

The author’s step carefully into the Ford allegations but they don’t treat her with the kid-gloves the media and others do. In the book details about Ford are highlighted, such as the fact that her family was absent from all the hearings—a fact I hadn’t even noticed at the time but that I find highly interesting.

They interview Elizabeth Loftus, preeminent researcher on the malleability of memory, a woman who has no love for Justice Kavanaugh but found the sentence “Indelible in the hippocampus” to be utterly laughable. They handle the other allegations from Ramirez and Sweatnik with the kind of scorn they deserved while mentioning a few of the other wildly insane accusations that include but are not limited to gang rape on a boat in Maine and malicious ice throwing.

They end the book questioning the future of the Supreme Court, reminding us, that the reason why the Left fought so hard to stop Justice Kavanaugh is because we’ve allowed the Courts to become unelected pseudo-legislatures. The panic over Roe v. Wade is because, even Justice Ginsberg believes its tantamount to legislating from the bench. They, and the republicans who also use the courts to legislate, fear that those committed to interpreting the law only, will tear down their carefully crafted political system of having the Courts fix what they failed to account for or properly explain in legislation. There are other factors as well, but I want you to read the book so I’ll leave it there.

Of complaints, I have two. The cover is awful; I hope they fix it for the paperback edition.

Second, this book does not highlight the absolute unhinged insanity of the protesters. Although the media did an excellent job of absolutely failing to read the county’s pulse, the protesters disgusted most of us in a manner only screaming harpies can. Their hysterical screaming mob mentality left many of us laughing if only to hide our revulsion. Cornering Senators, screaming in their faces, charging naked up the steps and trying to pry open the Court’s doors like a horde of zombies only made the sane women of America recoil.

A book worth reading if only to remind you why we must vote in 2020 and why we must recommit ourselves to the culture of due process, not just the legal standard. 5 Stars.
...more

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Sep 23, 2020 Kelly-Louise rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction

Conservative authors Hemingway and Severino have written an excellent overview of this shameful episode, which stands as a sobering reminder to all of us that the Left will say and do literally anything if it is in their partisan interest. The tactics that were used by sitting U.S. senators against then-Judge Kavanaugh are jaw-dropping in their dishonesty, lack of principle, and complete abandonment of fidelity to the concept of due process.

I followed the Kavanaugh confirmation saga very closely Conservative authors Hemingway and Severino have written an excellent overview of this shameful episode, which stands as a sobering reminder to all of us that the Left will say and do literally anything if it is in their partisan interest. The tactics that were used by sitting U.S. senators against then-Judge Kavanaugh are jaw-dropping in their dishonesty, lack of principle, and complete abandonment of fidelity to the concept of due process.

I followed the Kavanaugh confirmation saga very closely as it unfolded in 2018, but this book provides a lot of behind-the-scenes details and it makes for surprisingly compelling reading. In addition to telling this tale, the authors also relate the history and origins of the confirmation wars, which gives context for why we are where we are.

Anyone paying attention will note that before Senate Democrats successfully "borked" Judge Robert Bork in 1987, there typically wasn't much drama associated with confirming Supreme Court justices. But Senator Ted Kennedy's infamous speech smearing Bork ("Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the Government, and the doors of the Federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens....”) ushered in a new era of judicial confirmation wars. In 1991, Senate Democrats (led by then-Judiciary Committee Chair Joe Biden) were terrified that President Bush had nominated a black conservative, Clarence Thomas, to the Court. Clearly something had to be done. Thankfully, their smear campaign (with the media fully carrying their water) did not succeed. That ended up only being a warm-up for what they (again with the help of the media) would attempt with Brett Kavanaugh 27 years later.

I finished this the day after Justice Ginsburg passed away, which was timely. It seems unthinkable that Senate Democrats can sink any lower than they did with the Kavanaugh nomination, but then again they are always up to the task. The Supreme Court matters (more than it should, which is another topic that the authors discuss), and it behooves all of us to understand these issues fully as we strive to move forward towards a more perfect union.

Thoroughly researched and footnoted, this book will prove helpful to anyone seeking to become more informed about the judicial nomination wars. ...more

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Jul 24, 2019 Kathryn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: politics

“Nowadays, when people divide into ‘I’ll talk to my own kind, and the others I have nothing to do with,’ that’s very sad because that hasn’t been the way it was and isn’t the way this country should be,” [Americans should go] “beyond just mere tolerance of different views” [to] “welcoming different views because they enrich our society.”
--Ruth Bader Ginsburg
"Ruth Bader Ginsburg Insists She's Not Going Anywhere", July 25, 2019, NPR website

My interest in women's issues stretches beyond the YA book “Nowadays, when people divide into ‘I’ll talk to my own kind, and the others I have nothing to do with,’ that’s very sad because that hasn’t been the way it was and isn’t the way this country should be,” [Americans should go] “beyond just mere tolerance of different views” [to] “welcoming different views because they enrich our society.”
--Ruth Bader Ginsburg
"Ruth Bader Ginsburg Insists She's Not Going Anywhere", July 25, 2019, NPR website

My interest in women's issues stretches beyond the YA books I wrote during the past decade. I watched with pride as my mom found the courage to return to school during the early years of the women's movement; I gave an A+ presentation on the ERA in high school; and I have a progressively-thinking daughter and daughter-in-law. I also have sons and a husband and while Dr. Ford's testimony seemed credible, I found Kavanaugh's inexplicably gut-wrenching. There was something very odd about the Kavanaugh hearings so I was glad to pick up a book on the topic, hoping it would shed some light.

The authors are definitely right of center but this is no opinionated rant. The book is straightforward and heavily referenced (there are 49 pages of notes) and it describes multiple aspects of the hearings that didn't seem to interest the press. For instance, before reading the book, I didn't realize exactly how concerted the effort was to block Kavanaugh's confirmation from the start--long before Dr. Ford became a household name--or that the protesters were being paid and put up in hotels. Weird little numerical items were also illuminating, such as the coat hangers sent to Senator Collins by the hundreds and the more than 1000 questions sent to Kavanaugh by democratic senators on the judiciary committee. (Previous nominees had received only a few.)

Editorializing is saved for the final chapter, which can be distilled into this thought: Congress isn't doing its job. Change needs to come from the legislature, not the courts. When the opposite is true, as it is now, the stakes for nominations like this one become far too high for one side or the other, and the rule of law becomes roadkill. ...more

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Sep 19, 2019 Joel Zartman rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is the story, blow by blow. It was a telling moment, a watershed. It was, of course, an interesting story at the time; having it all patiently sorted out and explained does not diminish anything. The story is well put together. I don't think anybody will be able to fault the research or structure of this book.

The background, general and particular, is shrewdly supplied at necessary intervals without slowing down the pace of the story. The Ford episode near the end of the confirmation occupi ...more

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Nov 01, 2019 Angela rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book was coauthored by one of my favorite political commentators, Mollie Hemingway. I appreciate her unflappable calm and precise way of arguing positions and this book is no exception. In addition it is extensively researched and lays out the facts of the Kavanaugh confirmation events in a clear point by point manner. The book is presented in a fashion that makes the legal issues understandable to a lay person. The other coauthor is a Harvard law graduate and Carrie Serevino shows her lega ...more

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Nov 11, 2019 Heather rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: social-issues

As I finished this book, I wanted to cry, and this made me ponder: If this is the story of Justice Kavanaugh's contention for his Supreme Court confirmation, the ending should be joyful. The charges brought against him are not substantiated, and he is confirmed.

However, the unbearable sense of tragedy with which I left the book convinced me that this is not really Justice Kavanaugh's story. The title tells us this is the story of Justice on Trial, and the tragedy is that of the American republi ...more

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Jul 22, 2019 Craig Beam rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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 figure ...more

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Nov 16, 2019 Scott Cox rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: history, non-fiction

This book “arose out of a desire by participants in these extraordinary events to tell their stories to writers who had not joined the media’s public opposition to Justice Kavanaugh’s appointment.” Indeed, it is not merely yellow journalism, but also a conspiratorial political lynching that played into the aggressive attacks on Brett Kavanaugh. Unlike notorious philanderers the likes of John F. Kennedy or Bill Clinton, Justice Kavanaugh had a virtuous reputation. Friends and colleagues, Democrat ...more

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Oct 04, 2019 Cheryl rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is an excellent book about the Kavanaugh confirmation. It's well written and well researched and the authors include about 50 pages of documentation and sources at the end. It's not at all bombastic or emotional. It's measured, logical, fact based and analytical. I was particularly impressed that the first hundred pages of this book described the history of Supreme Court nominations since the mid 1980s from Robert Bork up through Neil Gorsuch. The first 100 pages don’t even mention the cont ...more

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Oct 06, 2020 Arthur rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-but-not-owned, politics-culture

I "read" the audiobook at a fitting time, beginning two days after ACB was nominated by Trump. I was curious as to whether the fiasco of this recent past nomination would be repeated and wanted to gain a better understanding of it.

Even though I paid close attention to the Kavanaugh confirmation process i still learned a lot of behind the scenes information that I hadnt known when it was happening, and now definitely have a good idea of what is occurring on both sides of the aisle during the proc ...more

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Aug 17, 2019 Liz Sergent rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I could not put this book down! This would have been unbelievable fiction, but it was true! These authors took readers behind the scenes of a supreme court pick. The chapter "All hell breaks loose" talks about Christine Ford appearing, the protests and what was happening behind the scenes. It covers how many written questions each pick is given before a hearing - Kavanaugh had 1287, Gorsch - 324 and Scalia - 3. After reading this book and witnessing what happened, laws need to be put in place to ...more

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Dec 31, 2019 Timmy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is the scariest book I read in 2019.

It's actually a game plan for the Trump impeachment.

This guy was by distant miles the most qualified judge in the country. I didn't personally like him as he was a Bush guy, more of a moderate than a conservative, but nevertheless he was up to the task. And we saw what we saw in Trump's impeachments. Democrats have no shame. None.

The Dem's gave credence to a late accuser saying that Kavanaugh initiated gang rapes at parties. Every weekend. Every weeken ...more

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Aug 18, 2019 Roy Murry rated it it was amazing

JUSTICE on TRIAL

Mollie Hemingway
Carrie Severino

Review by Roy Murry, Author

Qualified people may not care to become a member of the Supreme Court because of the way confirmation is run. Until reading Ms. Hemingway and Ms. Severino's history of the Kavanaugh nomination and hearings, which reads like a suspense novel, I had no idea of what transpired behind the scenes.

When the hearings were on TV and in the news, I didn't pay attention and had problems of my own to resolve. So, Mr. Kavanaugh select ...more

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Sep 20, 2019 Don rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: politics, current-events

This book is deeply researched and clearly shows that the left's attempt to derail Kavanaugh's confirmation was a dishonest, desperate act. Because it was written by conservatives, the leftist media has mostly ignored it and not reviewed it. It still became a #1 best seller.

It doesn't bode well for the future of the Supreme Court. Any conservative who is nominated will likely get the same treatment.

Sadly, a large percentage of the population has fallen for the lies of the left who, with the help ...more

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Sep 28, 2020 Margie rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook, non-fiction

I have been putting off reading this because having watched the Kavanaugh hearings, I wasn't sure I wanted to relive the unpleasantness. But I'm glad I did, if simply to be reminded how the media today eschews exploratory, cautious, and confirmed reporting for clickbait sensationalism. Even though I try to read around stories to get all sides, many aspects of this event were new to me as they had not been covered at all.

Though unplanned, I happened to be reading this just as the next nominee wa ...more

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Jul 23, 2019 Jason rated it it was amazing

Shelves: politics, american-history, current-events

Really well written and engaging. Very good insights and reporting. I’d imagine most of the readers will be Kavanaugh supporters, and that is too bad, as I think it would be a good alternative view read for those not supporting Kavanaugh. (I say this as someone who read Linda Greenhouse’s book on Justice Blackmun.) Always good to understand an articulate view that may not be the same as yours. That said, one thing I would have have loved to make this book even better is the occasional rebuttal/a ...more

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Aug 21, 2019 Jeannette rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I could not put this book down and found myself scheming to find more time to read. Even though I rather obsessively followed this as it unfolded on TV and the internet at the time, this book was still a fascinating and very well written look behind the scenes. May such a travesty of a confirmation process never be allowed again. Scary how close we got to allowing a group of lawmakers to totally hijack our constitutionally instituted processes. Kudos to the authors.

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Sep 10, 2019 Denise rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: political-economy, history

Turns out I was pretty well-informed about this. I did watch all the testimony. I picked up a few new things, including the names of the groups behind the scripted protests, and a lot of the backstory about Leland Keyser, the friend who didn't remember any such party and had never met Kavanaugh, who was once married to Bob Bechtel (!) I keep forgetting what a small world Washington is.

If you only knew what you heard in passing, you might get a new perspective on what was going on. ...more

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Feb 07, 2020 John Sagherian rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

Just finished reading “Justice on Trial” by Mollie Hemingway and Carrie Severino. I found it, interesting, informative, and very readable, couldn’t put it down; what happened after Justice Anthony Kennedy resigned from the Supreme Court. Like someone said, “it almost reads like [fast-paced] novel.” It helped me understand the political atmosphere in the U.S. but it also disturbed me. Anyone interested in the American political scene, this is a must read.

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“The principle that there is a presumption of innocence in favor of the accused is the undoubted law, axiomatic and elementary,” wrote Justice Edward White in Coffin v United States, tracing it from Deuteronomy through Roman Law, Canon Law, and the Common Law and illustrating it with an anecdote about a fourth-century provincial governor on trial before the Roman Emperor” — 2 likes

“There had been only three confirmations in the final year of a presidency when the opposing party controlled the Senate, most recently in 1888, when Grover Cleveland nominated Melville W. Fuller to be chief justice.” — 2 likes

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