Amy's Reviews > Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court

Growing up, I remember my Mom asking my grandparents about momentous historical events they lived through, such as MLK and freedom marches or Kennedy's assassination. It always bewildered her how easily they shrugged these events off. "Stuff happened but we were trying to build a career and raise a family," they'd say. Current events were merely peripheral to their daily life.
And even though today our access to media has certainly expanded, I sometimes feel like I do the same thing. Important stuff goes on, but so does my everyday life.
Which makes a book like this so interesting. Many of the events it chronicles took place less than a year ago. But besides occasionally making me go, 'oh yes, I vaguely recall that...' it was mostly new to me! Which, let's be clear, is particularly egregious on my part as I am a law student who loves political machinations. If anyone should pay attention, it would be me. But I didn't. And that is why a book like this is useful. It catches you up on what you missed.
Mollie Hemingway and Carrie Severino do a great job with the subject. The tone is decidedly pro-Kavanaugh. But they make an effort to provide loads of background, from listing the political context of earlier Republican appointees to the Supreme Court to many of the headlines of the day during the confirmation hearing. This is not a book that fails for lack of topic. The over one hundred interviews conducted by the authors come across fluidly and insightfully. It is well-grounded. And very readable!
However, I would say the book only barely squeaks in with 5 stars. 97% is great. Pro-Kavanaugh but after so much negativity in the media, it is nice to get 'the rest of the story.'
The 3% that frustrated me was when the authors get fed up with the slanderous rhetoric of the media and senators and decide to give it back, calling people 'snowflakes' or pointing out hypocrisy using vitriolic language more fitting for Townhall than an impartial narrative. Much like the much-criticized moment when Justice Kavanaugh lost his temper in the confirmation hearings, they finally start snapping back. And I get it. What the Kavanaughs went through is appalling and frustrating. But responding in such a manner loses the book some of its hard-won legitimacy. I guess that is the problem with writing history so soon after its completion. Emotions are still running high.
But for the most part, I think this is a book that will stand the test of time. It engages directly with the people who went through it. Accordingly, there is much to be learned from it and I think it will only be more relevant as the stage sets for the 2020 election and any future Supreme Court battles.

Pre-Review
Why is the cover so ugly??
It looks like a cop-memoir from the 90s or something.