Without Precedent: How Chief Justice Roberts and His Accomplices Rewrote the Constitution and Dismantled Our Rights

Graves, a former chief counsel for nominations for the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the founder of investigative watchdog group True Compass, argues in this unsettling debut account that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has been a “destructive force... to American jurisprudence” and “has helped fracture our political system.” Her concerns about Roberts go back decades; while working for the Senate committee, she tried, unsuccessfully, to block his 2003 appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals, in the belief that Roberts was a right-wing ideologue who would use the judiciary to advance his agenda. Graves demonstrates how the subsequent decades have validated her fears, drawing on her years spent closely observing the Beltway’s excesses to chart how Roberts, once appointed to the Supreme Court, used his influence to check boxes off the to-do list of a cadre of far-right jurists and donors. The scope of the changes wrought are mind-boggling when viewed in toto, and culminate with the 2024 decision sanctifying presidential immunity for official acts, which Graves fears has “mortally damaged our democracy.” Her eye for character detail brings to life the odd habits and double standards of her subjects, and her encyclopedic knowledge of conservative history leads to fascinating insights about behind-the-scenes connections between major players. It’s a captivating cri de coeur from an up-close spectator to U.S. democracy’s downward spiral. (Sept.)