Gumma writes: "See today's editorial praising conservative Judge Noonan for attacking Supreme Court decisions upholding states' sovereignty, including VAWA." John reports the editorial is here. Also see rave review by Linda Greenhouse in last Sunday's NYTBR.

From these articles, it sounds like the book consists of a lot of anecdotal stories about people with grievances who, for various reasons, would have rather had their cases heard in federal court than state court. Noonan is a federal judge from California, and California has a lot of wacky and incompetent judges, so maybe he thinks that the federal courts can do a better job. Both articles mention the 11th Amendment as a prime example of how the Supreme Court defers to the states too much. The 11A prohibits federal lawsuits against states, and the recent decisions on this subject are consistent with decisions that go back to 1890. [Hans v. Louisiana] If people really want federal lawsuits against state government, then they should amend the Constitution.