Page 4
Weekender
Thursday. January 24, 1930
Reality behind the robes of Justice:
'Brethren' takes an unflinching look
at the nation's most powerful court
By TOM MOORE
Bob Woodward and
Scott Armstrong
The Brethren
: -
Q ob Woodward and Scott
Armstrong's book on the first
seven years of the Burger Court,
The Brethren, has become a
controversy of sorts. Is the book
good investigative reporting (it
uncovers no major scandals within
the Court) or is The Brethren
merely f illed with trivial gossip to be
used as fuel in cocktail-party
banter?
Former Attorney General Griffin
Bell recommends The Brethren
only to readers "who are obsessed
with attacks on our institutions or
who enjoy reading about the faults
of others or even the details of the
illnesses of others."
Bell's comment is typical of those
who attack the book. Admittedly,
The Brethren does contain quite a
few trivial anecdotes about the lives
of the nine old men, but the book is
a welcome work because, it is the
first popular account of how the
Supreme Court makes law.
The Brethren begins with
Warren Burger's appointment as
chief justice in 1969. The other
justices had mixed feelings about
Burger. The liberals feared his
coming would ruin the reforms the
court made under Earl Warren. The
more conservative members
looked to Burger for leadership in
changing the liberal trend of the
Warren Court. It was not long until
the entire Court became
dissatisfied with Burger. Burger's
"intellectual inadequacies and his
inability to write coherent opinions
bothered Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr."
the authors report. When he saw
1
Burger's draft opinion in the
Detroit school busing case, he was
distressed at the inadequate
.research and drafting. "If an
-associate in my law firm had done
this," Powell told a clerk, 'I'd fire
him.'"
The other judges were also
miffed at the way Burger frequently
changed his vote in a case so he
could remain in the majority and
assign the case opinion.
Books
The Court began to turn away
from Burger for leadership.
"Warren E. Burger (in Justice Potter
Stewart's view) was a product of
Richard Nixon's tasteless White
House, distinguished in
appearance and bearing, but
without substance or integrity. 'On
ocean liners,' ' Stewart told his
clerks, 'they used to have two
captains. One for show, to take the
women to dinner.The other to pilot
the ship safely. The Chief is the
show captain. All we need now is a
real captain.'"
With Burger's inept leadership
the four moderates on the Court
Justices Stewart, Byron White,
Powell and sometimes Harry
Blackmun took over. The
moderates could force the way any
case was decided because they
controlled the majority of the votes.
The book attacks Burger strongly,
but none of the other justices
escapes such ripping scrutiny. All
are shown to have their faults
each voting on a case more with
their hearts than with their minds.
When John Paul Stevens joined
the Court in 1975, he became
distressed with the very faults of the
HIE
ijOOuulMjl
111 TlIE SilElE COURT
"vnr Ala. i Mt PRESIDENT'S MEN
Court that The Brethren points out.
"Stevens thought that the nation's
highest Court picked its way
carelessly through the cases it
selected. There was too little time
for careful reflection. The lack of
interest, of imagination and of
open-mindedness. was
disquieting," Woodward and
Armstrong write.
Woodward and Armstrong
interviewed more than 170 law
clerks and several justices for The
Brethren. None of these
interviewed are named in the book,
just like most reporting by
investigative journalists The reason
Woodward and Armstrong don't
list their sources is obvious; nobody
wants to get in trouble, but the
secret-source practice is a bit
dangerous because of the trust we
have to put . in Woodward and
.Armstrong to get at the truth, there
is not way tOvtell how slanted the
book is (a complaint of several
justices and clerks). The authors
admit that they didn't interview
Burger; he refused to talk to them.
That The Brethren takes a critical
look at all the justices suggests that
Woodward and Armstrong are
relatively unbiased in their
reporting and claims that the book
is an attack on Burger are
unfounded. The Brethren merely is
a much needed expose that shows
the makings of justice in this
country to be les? than just. 0
Tom Moore is a staff writer for The
Daily Tar Heel.
1
tWO GARDCN RESTAURANT
X . - -
i) A Franklin Street Gourmet's "Gourmet's Choice"
for the third year in a row ... f
, Franklin Street Gourmet, p. 23 af Jj 4
m it,.,. .,,..! .i,. M.... The Student Consumer Action Union v
- - - a., I' J I. MUIU
A . t I r ii
jL w in r i jnru j rum an
Tj 'four cnrnrrt f i'hina
I eking. SserAuen. (anion, Shanghai'
S)5? Orrr ItiO iishr.
jj vuo,".r mrait prixturr
I rival parly room arailahhr
A WIDE SELECTION
OF MIXED DRINKS
NOW AVAILABLE
5
Jr op
TAKE-OUT SERVICE
AND SPECIALS AT LL'NCH
All lynches served with fried rice
egg roll, choice of entree ond soup
o m jpm Mondoy ffidoy
W AlSO SBV SCGWAB MENU AT IUNCM
lEvery Monday is Lady's Night
1404 EAST FRANKLIN ST. CHAPEL HILL 942-1613
Lunch: Weekdays 1 1 am-2 pm
Sat. & Sun. 12-2:30 pm
Dinner: 5-10 pm dairy
Qo vjogGg Oft
ICED TEA!
With Purchase
uryscriTTsros of $1 .00 or more
Offer Expires January 31, 1980
O caKI ite w