Review of _Scorpions_ by Noah Feldman

Noah Feldman's Scorpions is the rare book that appeals to both those interested in legal history (Supreme Court) and History (New Deal years). Feldman looks at what he calls the FDR Court, built around Justices Felix Frankfurter, Robert Jackson, William Douglas and Hugo Black.  Each was viewed as a liberal during the 1930's but followed different paths to support that view. Frankfurter, a judicial restraint advocate ends up being viewed as a conservative. Black is an originalist but is viewed as a judicial activist, along with Douglas who advocated a "living constitution."  Jackson, a pragmatist, along with Douglas, focused not only on the law but on the outcome.  Feldman's title aludes to the falling out these FDR men had with each other not only from legal differences but also their own political aspirations.  The book is filled with interesting personal observations.  One justice dies in his lover's apartment (not Douglas), another fights to overcome the stigma of having belonged to the KKK and one noted to a law clerk after getting off the train as he returned for the funeral of a Chief Justice, "I've finally found proof of a merciful God," refering to the death of the Chief Justice.  No time would be better spent by a lawyer then devoting a couple of hours to this very interesting book detailing the rise of the liberal court (It ends with the aftermath of the Brown vs Board of Education case)  and a study of each Justices' role in that rise.  Those interested in American history will also find it intersting and absorbing.

Thank you to Melvin Steely for his review.