'Turning Right: The Making of the Rehnquist Supreme Court'
by David G. Savage
Wiley, $22.95
The new book by David G. Savage, the Los Angeles Times' Supreme Court correspondent, tells the terribly depressing - or terribly exciting, depending on your point of view - story of the transformation of the United States Supreme Court from 1986 to the present. Beginning with the confirmation of William Rehnquist as chief justice, "Turning Right" goes on to discuss in some detail the nominations and confirmations of Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Souter and Thomas.
Savage is particularly adept at describing complex decisions accurately and in plain English - a talent not widely shared by reporters covering the high court. He also takes pains in his portrayals of the justices, carefully avoiding overly broad generalizations about the rightward shift in the court's philosophy.
Taken as a whole, the book ably documents the fundamental shift in power that has necessarily resulted from consecutive Republican administrations. By the fall of 1991, Presidents Reagan and Bush had appointed 439 of the existing 837 federal judges and, perhaps more significant, five of the nine Supreme Court justices. Justice White, appointed by President John Kennedy, is the sole remaining Democrat-appointed justice, though he most often votes with the conservative majority. The book, and those statistics, are well worth pondering.
