Reviews for Terror and Taboo: The Follies, Fables, and Faces of Terrorism

The average rating for Terror and Taboo: The Follies, Fables, and Faces of Terrorism based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-01-25 00:00:00 Jake Weaver Do you ever get the sense that the Supreme Court justices aren't really carefully weighing precedent, their thoughtful interpretation of the Constitution, and the details of the case at hand when they hand down a decision? Does it seem, instead, that they are just voting based on their own personal ideology? According to Segal, if you do sometimes have this suspicion, you are in fact correct. The ceremony, the black robe, the raised bench--these are all just ways to muddying up the waters of what is really going on. In case after case, the bottom line is that the justices vote on cases in such a way as to try to see their own policy and ideological preferences enacted. This is the entire premise of this book, and the argument seems very strong indeed. Bush v. Gore is not really an outlier where politics intruded on the sacred court. It was merely a case that was so obvious that it was impossible to disguise what was happening. In reality, politics wins out in virtually every instance. This is an important book for people that want to understand how the Court genuinely works. Justices are not neutral observers and it is silly to think that they would or should be. They are political appointees and politics is at the root of how they get these jobs and why they want these jobs. I did hover between four and five stars, not because of a flaw in the book, but because it is no easy read. I went with five in the end because I think the book is important enough to slog through even if your eyes occasionally glaze over. But know that you are entering the realm of academic prose if you pick this one up.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-01-05 00:00:00 Martin Sinclair you have to read this to understand SCOUTS. have to.