Out of Order: Stories from the History of the Supreme Court.

• Author: Fischer, Raymond L.
• Position: Book review

OUT OF ORDER: Stories from the History of the Supreme Court

BY SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR

RANDOM HOUSE, NEW YORK 2013, 199 PAGES, $26

Soon after Pres. Ronald Reagan appointed Sandra Day O'Connor the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court in 1981, she became the most popular and easily recognized justice on the Court. In Out of Order, she looks back on her 25-year tenure with "continued admiration for the Court and for [her] colleagues there:' Inspired to write about the "Court's rich heritage" as both a branch of government and an institution, Justice O'Connor warmly relates vignettes of the Court and justices in "out of order" moments--something she terms "snapshots" of the people and events she experienced over the years.

With the exception of William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, and Jimmy Carter, every president has had an opportunity to appoint at least one justice to the Supreme Court. "Firsts" among judicial appointments began with George Washington's appointment of John Jay, the Court's first Chief Justice; Woodrow Wilson's appointment of Louis D. Brandeis, the first Jewish justice; Warren G. Harding's appointment of William Howard Taft, the first former president to serve on the Court; Lyndon Johnson's nomination of Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American to serve on the Court; and Ronald Reagan's appointment of O'Connor, the first women to serve.

Over the years, the Court has resided in various locations: first the Merchants Exchange Building in New York; next, Independence Hall in Philadelphia; then "space" in the New Capitol Building from 1800-12, when the British burned the Capitol. In the 'new Capitol" the Court settled into its own chamber from 1918-35, at which time it moved to the newly completed Supreme Court Building. In 1928, then Chief Justice Taft lobbied Congress to pass an act providing for a Supreme Court Building Commission, to which he appointed himself chair. He chose renowned architect Cass Gilbert to design the structure. Impressive in every detail, the building features a plaza leading to 44 marble steps; a double row of 16 white marble Corinthian columns frame the entrance above which "Equal Justice Under the Law" defines the purpose of the Court. O'Connor considers the Supreme Court Building an "awe-inspiring sight:

Article III of the Constitution established the Supreme Court, and the Judiciary Act of 1789 required justices each year to serve two six-weak sessions to hear cases in the Supreme Court, and...