By
– September 1, 2011
Scorpions reads like a historical novel. Noah Feldman has truly mastered the art of storytelling and his history of FDR’s Supreme Court justices is a treat for all readers, not just lovers of history, law, and politics. Feldman treats his subjects with respect but also paints them as human beings, foibles intact. There is a special place in my heart for Justice Felix Frankfurter and I was moved by the way his death was detailed in this book.
Frankfurter’s greatest adversary on the court was fellow Justice Hugo Black. As if he were a fly on the wall, Feldman writes of how, while sitting in his kitchen and reading the morning paper on February 21,1965, Black discovered that Felix was dead. At the memorial service for Frankfurter, Pilgrim’s Progress was read, just as it had been read at the memorial service for Louis Brandeis. And then, a short line penned by Frankfurter was read: “I came into this world a Jew, although I did not live my life entirely as a Jew, I think it only fitting I should leave as a Jew.” The memorial service concluded with the reading of the mourner’s kaddish by Louis Henkin, who has just recently passed away himself, an Orthodox Jew who had clerked for Justice Frankfurter.
The stories of the justices are woven together seamlessly, but the truth is that the back story of this book is more valuable than the cover story. Using FDR’s justices as his tools, Noah Feldman paints a fascinating picture of the man himself, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Frankfurter’s greatest adversary on the court was fellow Justice Hugo Black. As if he were a fly on the wall, Feldman writes of how, while sitting in his kitchen and reading the morning paper on February 21,1965, Black discovered that Felix was dead. At the memorial service for Frankfurter, Pilgrim’s Progress was read, just as it had been read at the memorial service for Louis Brandeis. And then, a short line penned by Frankfurter was read: “I came into this world a Jew, although I did not live my life entirely as a Jew, I think it only fitting I should leave as a Jew.” The memorial service concluded with the reading of the mourner’s kaddish by Louis Henkin, who has just recently passed away himself, an Orthodox Jew who had clerked for Justice Frankfurter.
The stories of the justices are woven together seamlessly, but the truth is that the back story of this book is more valuable than the cover story. Using FDR’s justices as his tools, Noah Feldman paints a fascinating picture of the man himself, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Micah D. Halpern is a columnist and a social and political commentator. He is the author of What You Need To Know About: Terror, and maintains The Micah Report at www.micahhalpern.com.
