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Summary Of The Nine By Jeffrey Toobin

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The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin The Supreme Court of the United States has played an integral role in the formation of law in the United States and continues to mold the legal structure of the country. Since the Supreme Court first convened on February 2, 1790, the Court has heard many quintessential landmark cases that have resulted in decisions that have greatly altered American legal structure and society. The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin chronicles the Supreme Court in the late 20th and early 21st Centuries under Chief Justice William Rehnquist and his successor, Chief Justice John Roberts. The book principally focuses on the little publicized happenings of the Supreme Court and its justices. The Nine …show more content…

The Federalist Society believed in weak central government and wanted to dismantle a strong central government on a constitutional basis. On March 10, 1992 Alfonso Lopez Jr., a twelfth grader, arrived at Edison High School in San Antonio, Texas with a .38 caliber pistol and five bullets with intent to sell these items to another student. The school, acting on a tip, had Lopez arrested under a Texas law that banned guns from being carried on school grounds. However, these charges were dropped after federal charges were brought under the Gun Free School Zones Act of 1990. In United States v. Alfonso D. Lopez, Lopez was sentenced to six months in prison, which obstructed plans to join the Marines. This case was appealed until it reached the Supreme Court, at which point the constitutionality of the Gun Free School Zones Act of 1990 was defended by Solicitor General Drew Days III under the grounds that guns in schools affects interstate commerce, which falls under the jurisdiction of Congress. Despite a strong argument by Breyer on the constitutionality of these laws, the court ruled five to four to strike down the laws and overturn Lopez’s sentence. The conservative movement had seen a victory here, and looked for more victories pertaining to abortion and free expression of religion in schools. Evangelical Christians were major constituents of this movement and were active in the Federalist Society. This grassroots movement of Christians was dubbed the “moral majority,” as they believed strongly in pro-life values and free expression of religion. Jay Sekulow, a Jewish lawyer that had attended law school at Mercer University in Georgia was a frontrunner of the conservative cause. After reading the Book of Isaiah, he recognized that this scripture was about Jesus Christ and subsequently

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