The Constitution Today: Timeless Lessons for the Issues of Our Era

by Akhil Reed Amar

Overview

In this “desperately needed” (Time.com) book, a leading legal scholar addresses the most important constitutional controversies of the twenty-first century and illuminates the Constitution's ongoing relevance

In The Constitution Today, Akhil Reed Amar, America’s preeminent constitutional scholar, considers the biggest and most bitterly contested debates of the twenty-first century—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.

With accessible prose and expert insights, Amar leads readers through the most important constitutional questions while explaining the direction constitutional law must go, offering an essential guide for anyone seeking to understand America’s Constitution and its relevance today. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465096343
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	09/13/2016
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	464
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Akhil Reed Amar is the Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University and the author of several books on constitutional law and history, including America's Constitution: A Biography and The Words That Made Us. He lives in Woodbridge, Connecticut.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Constitution on Deadline 1

Part I Modern Branches

1 The Presidency: A Return to Dynasty? 23

2 The Vice Presidency: Nothing, but Maybe Everything 49

3 The Congress: How to Fix a Broken Branch 85

4 The Judiciary: Who Judges the Judges? 111

Part II Culture Wars

5 Criminal Procedure: From O. J. to DNA 155

6 Citizens Dis-United: Race, Guns, Gays, and More 217

7 Constitutional Anniversaries: Remembering to Remember 255

Part III Presidential Dramas

8 Bill Clinton's Drama: His Partisan Impeachment 273

9 George W. Bush's Drama: His Un-Popular Election 327

10 Barack Obama's Drama: His Signature Statute 359

Conclusion: Just, in Time 399

Post-Election Postscript 411

Acknowledgments 431

Permissions 435

Notes 437

Index 451

Editorial Reviews

Amar's expert framework of our nation's most fundamental document feels desperately needed.”—Time.com (Top 10 Nonfiction Books of the Year)

“If I were stranded in a remote area and could have only one book to read, that book would be written by Akhil Reed Amar—any Amar book. Each one is filled with thoughtful examinations of the United States Constitution.”—Roanoke Times

“Few constitutional law scholars can write as effectively on deadline about the legally complex and politically charged issues that come before the court, and few journalists writing about the constitution can match [Amar’s] command of law and history.”—RealClearPolitics

“The Constitution Today hits hard; what is more, it dares the reader to hit back... It showcases scholarship fulfilling its greatest potential: engaging meaningfully and unflinchingly with the world beyond the university in terms intelligible to the layperson.”—Weekly Standard

“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 Books

“Amar is at his best when providing historical insights to modern‑day constitutional issues... What his new book exemplifies is a consistent commitment over two decades to speak to issues beyond the academic, to engage with audiences beyond a New Haven classroom, and to use the perch and resources of his academic appointment to help the rest of us learn more about the history and principles that guide us today.”—Los Angeles Review of Books

“Bringing an unusually informed and cool head to the tumult accompanying unfolding events, Amar performs a valuable service for his fellow citizens.”—Kirkus (starred review)

“Impressively, Amar presents a panoramic view of recent history through the lens of Constitutional interpretation. Moreover, he accomplishes this in layman's language, so that his insights are accessible to general readers. Indeed, Amar's professed intent is to educate journalists on Constitutional issues, and he succeeds unequivocally.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“Akhil Amar's compelling and readable new book is so cram‑filled with provocative and ground‑breaking ideas that no one will agree with them all... But every reader will acknowledge the cogency of his arguments. He makes you think, reconsider your ideas, and admire his sheer brilliance.”—Alan Dershowitz, author of Get Trump

“America's most brilliant originalist constitutionalist is also perhaps her best constitutional journalist.”—Lawrence Lessig, author of Republic, Lost

“Amar is among the very, very few who can write about the Constitution with not just deep knowledge but with insight, verve, an understanding of both history and politics, and passion, and in a way that can be appreciated by legal scholars and lay readers alike. The Constitution Today shows Amar at his best.”—Norman Ornstein, author of It's Even Worse Than It Looks

From the Publisher

★ 2016-07-19
From a constitutional law expert, 20 years’ worth of essays on controversial issues that have dominated the headlines.In addition to his teaching and research responsibilities, Amar (Law and Political Science/Yale Univ.; The Law of the Land: A Grand Tour of Our Constitutional Republic, 2015, etc.) has filled yet another niche “within the contemporary American constitutional ecosystem.” Acting as a “constitutional journalist,” writing for newspapers, magazines, and journals, he has regularly seized timely new hooks “on which to hang a broader argument that extends far beyond the news event putatively prompting the piece.” In this collection, the author arranges the essays under broad headings—the three branches of government, the culture wars, the dramas attending Bill Clinton’s impeachment, George W. Bush’s first election, and Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act—and prefaces individual topics with updated commentary reflecting the author’s estimation of how his on-deadline reporting has held up or his thinking has evolved. Subjects stretch from the hot-off-the-press, stalled nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court all the way back to Clinton v. Jones (1997) and the hazards of permitting a private lawsuit against a sitting president. Believing there are right and wrong answers to constitutional questions and convinced that the correct judgment usually emerges over time, Amar rigorously analyzes each issue in accessible prose, with humor and humility. He forthrightly confesses his bias as “a card-carrying Democratic scholar,” but instances abound here—on gun rights, on the exclusionary rule, on campaign finance—where the conclusions he’s reached appear to cut against his political preference. This insistence on playing fair—his willingness to, for example, praise Antonin Scalia or criticize Stephen Breyer (for whom he clerked) when the occasion demands—is one of this book’s many charms, lending credence to the sharp scrutiny the professor applies to every topic and to the predictions he makes about the course of constitutional law. Bringing an unusually informed and cool head to the tumult accompanying unfolding events, Amar performs a valuable service for his fellow citizens.

Kirkus Reviews