Leaving the Bench

“Trivia buffs and scholars alike will enjoy this lively volume.”–National Law Journal

“The questions Atkinson asks are not just academic: thoughts of Supreme Court vacancies are sure to crop up in this year’s presidential race.”–Wall Street Journal

“Highly engaging… . This book is must reading.”–Appellate Practice Journal

“Fascinating.”–Legal Times

“Over a twenty-year period, Atkinson had the opportunity to interview many former Justices, their families and associates. Such first-person experiences, freshly preserved, are of incalculable value to historians of the Court as well as present-day readers.”–New York Law Journal

“Beautifully organized and written, this is the first systematic effort to pull together and analyze Supreme Court deaths, resignations, and retirements. As such, it makes a significant contribution to the field.” –Tinsley E. Yarbrough, author of Judicial Enigma: The First Justice Harlan

“This is clearly a book for Supreme Court junkies, and I am one of those. A pleasure to read, it is filled with lots of fascinating detail about the medical conditions of justices and their ultimate demise. This makes for both engaging and, at times, macabre reading. Atkinson’s purpose, of course, is not simply to entertain. He is concerned with the impact of judicial disability on the workings of the Supreme Court throughout its history and grapples with potential solutions to the problems it poses.”–Sheldon Goldman, author of Picking Federal Judges: Lower Court Selection from Roosevelt through Reagan

David N. Atkinson is professor of political science at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he is also professor of political science and law at the School of Law.

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