Law: Keyholing the Supreme Court

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That may just be Stevens' opinion, but the book's seemingly omniscient point of view makes it seem like the final judgment on the brethren. Readers may well conclude that for all the personal foibles recounted, the weight of the book's evidence shows the institution still to be sound. Millions of TV viewers who watched CBS Correspondent Mike Wallace and the authors discuss the book's spicier revelations on 60 Minutes last week are likely to be left with a more disparaging impression.

If so, the moral capital on which the court draws for its authority will be diminished. The disclosures in The Brethren could conceivably make the Justices less frank and open in their give and take. The revelations will certainly make some of the nine more cautious about confiding in their clerks; they also raise questions about the propriety of leaking confidential court documents. Burger, who once said that talking to a Justice's clerk was like tapping his phone, is understandably apoplectic about the book. But court watchers doubt that The Brethren will do the institution long-term harm. Says Co-Author Armstrong: "It's not going to change the Justices' relationships. These guys already know what they think about each other." In all likelihood, the Justices will go on as before, wrestling with their consciences—and each other—over hard cases.