The Conscience of the Constitution: The Declaration of Independence and the Right to Liberty

by Timothy Sandefur

Overview

Is liberty or democracy the primary constitutional value? At a time when Americans are increasingly facing violations of their civil liberties, Timothy Sandefur's insightful new book explains why the Declaration of Independence, with its doctrines on the primacy of liberty, the natural rights of man, and the limits on legitimate government, should serve as the guidepost for understanding the Constitution. The author takes the reader through the ideas of substantive due process and judicial activism and defends them from mainstream criticisms while drawing on examples from literature, television, and Supreme Court cases. The Conscience of the Constitution: The Declaration of Independence and the Right to Liberty argues that modern legal doctrines, which value democracy over liberty, are endangering individual rights and corrupting our civic institutions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781939709035
Publisher:	Cato Institute
Publication date:	01/07/2014
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

TimothySandefur is an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, an attorney at thePacific Legal Foundation, and the author of TheRight To Earn a Living: Economic Freedom and the Law and Cornerstone of Liberty: PropertyRights in 21st Century America.He lives near Sacramento, California.

Table of Contents

ContentsAcknowledgements
Introduction
1. Democracy AndFreedom
2. The Civil War AndThe Incomplete Reconstruction
3. Substantive DueProcess
4. The Attack onSubstantive Due Process
5. Judicial Activism
6. Conclusion
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Editorial Reviews

This is an excellent book. I was just going to write it myself.... This book should be in everyone's library.

Hadley Arkes

Expertly combining law, history, and political philosophy, Timothy Sandefur offers both a powerful defense of the Constitution and a winning case for why the Supreme Court is duty-bound to protect a wide range of individual rights from the grasp of overreaching majorities.

Reason Magazine - Damon Root

"Now the nation no longer lacks what it has long needed, a slender book that lucidly explains the intensity of conservatism's disagreements with progressivism. For the many Americans who are puzzled and dismayed by the heatedness of political argument today, the message of Timothy Sandefur's 'The Conscience of the Constitution: The Declaration of Independence and the Right to Liberty' is this: The temperature of today's politics is commensurate to the stakes of today's argument."

The Washington Post - George F. Will

"'The Conscience of the Constitution' posits a role for the Fourteenth Amendment in protecting natural rights from abuse at both the federal and state level. It is a great defense of individual liberty."

Sen. Rand Paul