As an attorney who has practiced during the Rehnquist and now the Roberts era – where 5 to 4 decisions are a common occurrence — I hold my breath each time an important decision comes down from the Supreme Court because of the enormous impact these decisions have on our lives. Two examples close to home are the Kelo case (where the Court decided that the City of New London could use eminent domain to take a woman’s home against her will and transfer the property to a private developer for a non-public use) and the recent Ricci case that we have all been hearing about (where the Court required the City of New Haven to promote the highest ranking firefighters on a promotional examination that the City later determined had an illegal discriminatory impact on minority firefighters). We know so little about how the Court really works and how the relationships among the justices shape the opinions that are ultimately adopted. So I look forward to reading The Nine to find out more about the people that shape our lives, for an inside look at the secret world that is the Supreme Court, and to share ideas with all of you.
*My views expressed on this blog are completely my own and do not represent those of Silver Golub & Teitell.
** See Marilyn’s bio in the “Meet the Authors” section on the homepage.
