Henry Watson’s Reviews > Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes > Status Update

Some of the points raised regarding regulation in Chapter 5 are, unfortunately, just not quite right, such as how Litman characterizes economically significant rules as an invention of the conservative Court, rather than an Executive Order from the Clinton administration.

Litman expresses a fairly coherent thesis on page 130: that some political decisionmaking is necessary on the Court, but the current state of affairs “differs, at least in degree, from what was happening before”. This isn’t explored in enough depth, and clashes with Litman’s frequent criticism of historical courts such as during the outset of the Great Depression.

Impressions after chapter 1:

- Designed for a narrow audience, presumably Strict Scrutiny podcast listeners. Won’t persuade a conservative, and assumes too much knowledge to be accessible.

- The thesis that Court decisions are purely political is valid (although not new) but this book is more about being outraged about that than proving the point with evidence.

- Very conversational, short shelf-life