This book investigates the ethical boundaries of judicial conduct by examining the covert political influence exerted by Supreme Court Justices Louis Brandeis and Felix Frankfurter. Author Bruce Allen Murphy, a political science scholar, utilizes extensive archival research and private correspondence to document how these two figures operated as political advisors and power brokers while serving on the bench. The work argues that their sustained involvement in national policy-making and administrative appointments fundamentally challenged the traditional expectations of judicial impartiality and separation of powers.

Experts and legal historians frequently cite this work as a significant contribution to the study of judicial ethics and the history of the American judiciary. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which provides a rigorous look at the intersection of law and political power.