The Amendments to the Constitution ─ A Commentary

A companion to the widely acclaimed The Constitution of 1787, this new book by eminent constitutional scholar George Anastaplo examines the nature and effects of the twenty-seven amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

For Anastaplo, these amendments implement the equality, liberty, and rule of law principles that are fundamental to the American system of government. His appendixes of critical documents and his reflections on the Bill of Rights and on the Emancipation Proclamation set this volume apart from other treatises on the amendments to the Constitution.

Denied admission to the Illinois bar in 1950 after he refused on principle to answer questions about his political associations, George Anastaplo took his case to the Supreme Court, and lost, 5-4. In a famous dissent—which Justice William J. Brennan said "immortalized George Anastaplo"—Justice Hugo L. Black wrote, "We must not be afraid to be free." George Anastaplo is professor of law at Loyola University of Chicago, lecturer in the liberal arts at the University of Chicago, and author of The American Moralist. He has been honored by the recent two-volume Festschrift, Law and Philosophy.