First, a word of warning.
If you were distressed when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and sent the abortion issue back to the purview of individual states, the positive review of Molly Hemingway’s “Alito” which follows may rankle. For reasons all my own, I’ve spent some years now trying not to upset others — mixed results at best — and my admiration for this book and for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito may spoil your day. Please skip this review if that’s going to be the case.
With the orange cones and caution signs in place, let’s turn now to Hemingway’s “Alito: The Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored the Constitution” (Basic Liberty, 2026, 352 pages). Here’s a study of a man and his time that brings benefits and pleasures to readers interested in American law and history, and in the character of an American judge.
After graduating from Yale Law School, Alito began practicing law in 1976. For 50 years, then, he has seen first-hand courtrooms and how they work. In 2005, president George Bush nominated him for the post of Supreme Court justice, and he has served in that capacity since January of 2006. By covering the important cases involving Alito in his long legal career, especially those that appeared before the court, Hemingway provides readers with some excellent history regarding legal matters and their impact on our culture.
In addition, “Alito” serves as a primer on how the Supreme Court functions: what cases make the docket, the role and duties of the young lawyers who clerk for the justices, the ways in which justices either reach agreement in a case or issue a dissent. Hemingway does fine work in giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the at the workings of this branch of our government.
The book is also valuable for Hemingway’s mini-biographies of the justices who have served alongside of Alito on the court. Though a conservative and the editor-in-chief of The Federalist, Hemingway’s portraits of the justices, how they came to be nominated to the court, the difficulties some of them faced during that process and their performance in determining cases once they put on the black robe, are generally even-handed.
Of course, Hemingway devotes a good section of her book to Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the case that overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Here we learn more about the decision making of the different justices, the majority opinion written by Alito, and the leaking of the details of the case ahead of publication, a breach of confidentiality that caused massive protests and death threats against some of the justices.
Those critical of the court’s decision to send the abortion issue back to the states might do well to remember that Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died before this case reached the court and who was a staunch advocate for abortion, had long believed that Roe v. Wade was a mistake, that it reached too far in overturning state legislation and becoming federal law.
While these are all good reasons to read “Alito,” for me the best part of the book was the attention Hemingway paid to Alito’s life and character. In the books’ last chapter, “All Steak, No Sizzle” — the quote comes from a federal judge regarding Alito’s focus on substance over style — Hemingway sums up the judge’s character. He’s a quiet man, somewhat introverted, a hard worker who is “thoroughly prepared for every case, as is apparent in oral arguments.” He revered his father, loves his family and is a lifelong baseball fan.
At one point, Hemingway writes, “He represents the best of mid-twentieth-century America, a country that is disappearing.” Younger readers may have little idea of the compliment Hemingway intends, and others who do understand may snort and laugh derisively, but for many people, including me, we understand exactly what she means. We knew men and women like Alito back then, bright, well-mannered and well-dressed, mature, and we miss them. A glance at nearly any public arena today reveals the startling difference between then and now.
She also writes of Alito, “He is stalwart in his defense of the moral code that until recently was universally recognized in America, even as its last vestiges are swept from our institutions.” Given the level of corruption in today’s government and in the marketplace in general, some of us miss that too.
At the end of the book, Hemingway includes part of a speech Alito delivered to the Federalist Society, which isn’t associated with The Federalist publication where she works. Here she notes that Alito “hopes other Americans will share his passion for preserving the Constitution and the free and prosperous life it has made possible.”
The portion of the speech included by Hemingway ends with a quote from an earlier Supreme Court Justice, Learned Hand, “Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court… can do much for it.”
(Jeff Minick reviews books and has written four of his own: two novels, “Amanda Bell” and “Dust On Their Wings,” and two works of nonfiction, “Learning As I Go” and “Movies Make the Man.” minick0301@gmail.com .)