When the US Constitution won widespread popular approval in 1788, it was the culmination of decades of passionate argument about legal and political first principles-a furious debate over the nature o
"The Bill of Rights stands as the high temple of our constitutional order--America's Parthenon--and yet we lack a clear view of it," Akhil Reed Amar writes in his introduction to The Bill of Rights. "
Despite its venerated place atop American law and politics, our written Constitution does not enumerate all of the rules and rights, principles and procedures that actually govern modern America. The
In America’s Constitution, one of this era’s most accomplished constitutional law scholars, Akhil Reed Amar, gives the first comprehensive account of one of the world’s great political texts. Incisive
When the stories that lead our daily news involve momentous constitutional questions, present-minded journalists and busy citizens cannot always see the stakes clearly. InThe Constitution Today, Akhil
"I don't think there is anyone in the academy these days capable of more patient and attentive reading of the constitutional text than Akhil Amar."--Jeremy Waldron, New York Review of BooksWhen the stories that lead our daily news involve momentous constitutional questions, present-minded journalists and busy citizens cannot always see the stakes clearly. In The Constitution Today, Akhil Reed Amar, America's preeminent constitutional scholar, considers the biggest and most bitterly contested debates of the last two decades--from gun control to gay marriage, affirmative action to criminal procedure, presidential dynasties to congressional dysfunction, Bill Clinton's impeachment to Obamacare. He shows how the Constitution's text, history, and structure are a crucial repository of collective wisdom, providing specific rules and grand themes relevant to every organ of the American body politic.Leading readers through the constitutional questions at stake in each episode while outlining
A renowned constitutional scholar explores the little-understood relationship between the written Constitution and the many external factors that shape our interpretations of this foundational documen
Amar's landmark work invites citizens to a deeper understanding of their Bill of Rights and will set the basic terms of debate about it for modern lawyers, jurists, and historians for years to come. I
Under the banners of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments, the Supreme Court has constitutionalized vast areas of criminal procedure law in ways that often reward the guilty while hurting the innoc
"From Illinois to Alabama, and from Florida to Utah, our laws and legal debates arise from distinctive local settings within our vast and varied nation. As the renowned scholar Akhil Amar explains, Ab
This authoritative guide to the defining freedoms of the United States offers historical background on the people, events, legislation and cultural landmarks that influenced the Founding Fathers as th
When serving on a jury, can you ever interpret the Constitution yourself? When threatened by your city's taking of your property, do you have any recourse aside from lobbying or voting the bums out in
A valuable reference to understanding your freedoms.Many Americans reference the Bill of Rights, a document that represents many of the freedoms that define the United States. Who doesn’t know about t
A guide to presidential impeachment outlines the process, defines the phrase "high Crimes and Misdemeanors," explains the relationship between crimes and impeachable offenses, and lists the most relev
Charles L. Black Jr.’s classic guide to presidential impeachment, now in an updated edition with new material by Philip Bobbitt Originally published at the height of the Watergate crisis and rei
