Points Bookshelf: “Glass and Gavel” by Nancy Maveety






For all its heavy subject matter–these are, after all, decisions about the legality of a substance that kills roughly 88,000 Americans annuallyGlass and Gavel is a lot of fun. The writing moves quickly; Maveety even bolds important words and phrases and italicizes her most trenchant sentences. There are brief conclusions at the end of every chapter, and recipes are included for several of the drinks she discusses. Each chapter also features a token cocktail, from quoit club punch in the early 1800s (a refreshing mix of brandy, madeira, lemons and ice, perfect for enjoying on humid summer days), to the dry martini of mid-century judicial soirees, to RBG’s current interest in Camparis. By emphasizing a token cocktail or liquor for each era, Glass and Gavel is part history and part pairing-guide. With a well-stocked bar and an experimental spirit, you could easily have a very fun reading party.

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Know what else would be fun? “Fajitas and frivolity” with Sandra Day O’Connor! (p. 255)

Maveety keeps her voice light, but this is a deeply-researched work. Glass and Gavel’s depth and time span are particularly illuminating right now, as laws around other drugs, including cannabis and nicotine, continue to change. The passage of the 21st Amendment means that it will take work to federally prohibit alcohol again, but booze’s constantly-varying levels of legality, as defined by the Supreme Court, show that few intoxicants are ever completely legally stable. We may not have rulings on its legality anymore, but there are still discussions to be had on drinking’s availability, implementation and effects; since the 1990s, the court has ruled on blood alcohol levels, drunk driving, state price controls, and advertising bans. As we move toward an era when greater numbers of people embrace the idea of legality for intoxicants like cannabis and psychedelics, Maveety is wise to remind us that many more questions must continually be answered–sometimes at our country’s highest court level–beyond whether a substance is simply legal or not.

Glass and Gavel was recently released, and unfortunately Maveety wasn’t able to include a discussion of Brett Kavanaugh’s public affection for beer. I look forward to an expanded version that analyzes how Kavanaugh’s beer-drinking ways are accepted (or not) on this Court by Roberts, the sober Hoosier, and RBG the gourmet. Until then, Glass and Gavel is an illuminating and light-hearted history that puts the cocktail in the courtroom and shows us precisely how legally-debatable America’s most beloved intoxicant truly is. 

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