Sisters in Law

Short review: I am fascinated by the Supreme Court. I have read at least a dozen books about different aspects of it over the years. I have previously read a light biography of Ginsberg (Notorious RBG) and a book on the court by O'Connor, but I didn't know too much about O'Connor's background.

Sisters in Law is a joint biography of Ginsberg and O'Connor, but I think that O'Connor gets short changed. Because Ginsberg's history includes so much history of caselaw about gender issues, Ginsberg's pre-court discussion is much more detailed than O'Connors'. I would have loved to hear more about O'Connor as a legislator.

Once the book got them both to the Court it was much more balanced. The author clearly identifies more closely with Ginsberg's legal philosophy, but attempted to give O'Connor a fair hearing. Ginsberg was not above critique, but bias of the author did show through.

I was fascinated by the behind the scenes acrimony. Hirshman's point was that being women mattered to O'Connor and Ginsberg's role on the court. Those that voted against them were sometimes sexist. But I would have liked a better discussion of the legal philosophies that were used to support the votes. Because while I think sexism is at least part of the reason, there were legal justifications to those votes and I think that part matters.

My longer review (about a 1000 words) is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/sisters-in-law/