Perspective

Jeffrey Toobin, a contemporary journalist and commentator on CNN, is the author of "The Oath". His perspective, as a legal journalist, standards squarely on the legal left in the United States. This perspective is characterized by several commitments. First, there is a great concern to protect the ideal of human equality along many dimensions, gender, race, religion and sexual orientation and the protection of personal liberties, like abortion rights and free speech for individuals. Second, there is a great belief in activist government, where government power is used to protect rights, equalize opportunities, redistribute wealth and heavily regulate the economy. These actions are not seen as liberty-limiting but rather as an expression of the nation's democratic will.

This perspective manifests in several attitudes expressed throughout the book. First, Toobin prefers liberal justices who believe in a "liberal" or "living constitution" approach which allows judges to interpret the constitution...