If true, this would mean that an organization that set out to abolish the death penalty actually succeeded in making it more capricious, less well-overseen and more commonly used.
In the January 1999 edition of the Yale Law Journal, Judge Alex Kozinski wrote a detailed criticism of the book as rife with factual errors, unreliable research methods, and strong biases in its analysis and tone.
Closed Chambers met with a wave of controversy over Lazarus's voluminous disclosure of the internal deliberations of the Supreme Court, which critics argued was confidential and protected by an oath taken by the law clerks.
Similar controversy greeted the publication of Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong's The Brethren, which relied on interviews with former clerks and Justices, two decades prior.
Larry David is seen reading Closed Chambers in "The Car Salesman", episode 1 of season 2 of Curb Your Enthusiasm.