The Naked Constitution: What the Founders Said and Why It Still Matters

by Adam Freedman

Overview

In the spirit of Glenn Beck’s Original Argument comes a lively manifesto on the need to recover the original meaning of the Constitution.

From law school classrooms to the halls of Congress, America’s elites have come to regard the Constitution as a mere decorative parchment to be kept under glass at the National Archives. In The Naked Constitution, conservative legal scholar Adam Freedman defends the controversial doctrine of originalism as the only way to restore the Founding Fathers’ vision of American liberty. Freedman argues that the fashionable “Living Constitution” theory has been used by judges and politicians since the Progressive Era of the early 1900s to centralize power in Washington and to threaten individual freedom.

The Naked Constitution explains the fundamental themes animating America’s founding charter: limited government, federalism, separation of powers, and individual liberty. Freedman explores the nature of each of the three branches of government as well as the key individual rights enshrined in the Constitution to show how original meaning can help answer the most pressing questions facing America today: Can the president invade another country without the approval of Congress? Can he assassinate or spy on American citizens in the name of fighting terror? Do corporations have the same “free speech” rights as individuals? Can the federal government coerce states to adopt particular policies, or force individuals to buy insurance? Ultimately, Freedman calls for a new constitutional convention that will free the nation from capricious courts and idiosyncratic judges, and limit the growth of government for decades to come.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062094650
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/17/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	373
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Adam Freedman is one of America's leading commentators on law and holds degrees from Yale, Oxford, and the University of Chicago. He is also the author of The Naked Constitution: What the Founders Said and Why It Still Matters. A former columnist for the New York Law Journal, Freedman covers legal affairs for Ricochet.com. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and two daughters.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Is Homework Constitutional? The Living Constitution vs. the Naked Constitution 1

Chapter 2 We the People: Was the Constitution Really Written to Protect Terrorists, Illegal Aliens, and Chimpanzees? 15

Chapter 3 Congress: Who Killed Our Government of Limited Powers? 43

Chapter 4 The President: The Mouse That Roared 67

Chapter 5 The Courts: Supreme Power Grab 103

Chapter 6 Freedom of Speech: Some Speech Is More Equal Than Others 135

Chapter 7 Religion: One Nation, Under… Never Mind 157

Chapter 8 To Keep and Bear Arms: The Right the Left Left Behind 191

Chapter 9 Life, Liberty, and That Other Thing: Property Rights Declare Bankruptcy 221

Chapter 10 Cruel and Unusual: The Supreme Court Outsources the Constitution 253

Chapter 11 Federalism: The Forgotten Tenth Amendment 277

Chapter 12 Come the Revolution: Time for a New Convention 305

Acknowledgments 321

Select Bibliography 323

Index 337

What People are Saying About This

Peter Robinson

“Brilliant, lively, pugnacious, and very ambitious. Freedman intends to reclaim our founding document for us, the layment, the ordinary citizens whom the Constitution was intended to serve, andm asterfully does so in this lucid and accessible book.”

David Limbaugh

In this very entertaining and informative book, Freedman skewers those who have judicially rewritten the Constitution at the expense of our individual liberties. Well-researched and full of historical insight, The Naked Constitution explains the Founders’ original meaning, and demonstrates the urgency of reclaiming America’s founding ideals. Well done.

Mark Levin

“A compelling response to the ‘living Constitution’—a fradulent theory that allows judges and politicians to rewrite the Constitution at will...to centralize power and erode basic freedoms. Most importantly, he explains how we can return to the Founders’ principles of individual liberty and limited government.”

Editorial Reviews

Freedman, a commentator for the conservative news site Ricochet.com, offers a no-holds-barred defense of originalism, which he defines as the proposition that the Constitution should retain the meaning it had when it was ratified in 1789. Although Freedman’s analysis primarily condemns liberal interpretations of the Constitution, conservatives do not get a completely free ride. For example, he argues that in no place in the Constitution is there a provision for the president to “start an offensive war,” which indicts Democratic and Republican presidents alike. And even the identification of a Supreme Court justice as conservative does not grant immunity from Freedman’s sharp pen. Justice Scalia, the court’s leading originalist, is taken to task for his views on religious freedom stated in a 1990 decision that Freedman argues “virtually ignores the original meaning of the First Amendment.” Freedman is an entertaining writer and conservative readers will be amused by his use of sarcasm, hyperbole, and inflammatory attacks on liberals—Pulitzer Prize–winner Gary Wills is a “Sneerer in Chief of the antigun movement”; former president Jimmy Carter is “that cowboy.” In order to return to the spirit of the original Constitution, paradoxically, Freedman says, amendment is necessary. He ends with the call for a new constitutional convention and suggests a list of amendments consistent with his conservative beliefs, for instance, returning power from the federal government to the states.. Agent: Geri Thoma, Markson Thoma Literary Agency. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

A compelling response to the ‘living Constitution’—a fradulent theory that allows judges and politicians to rewrite the Constitution at will...to centralize power and erode basic freedoms. Most importantly, he explains how we can return to the Founders’ principles of individual liberty and limited government.” — Mark Levin, author of Med in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America

“Brilliant, lively, pugnacious, and very ambitious. Freedman intends to reclaim our founding document for us, the laymen, the ordinary citizens whom the Constitution was intended to serve, and masterfully does so in this lucid and accessible book.” — Peter Robinson, fellow, Hoover Institution, and former Reagan speechwriter

In this very entertaining and informative book, Freedman skewers those who have judicially rewritten the Constitution at the expense of our individual liberties. Well-researched and full of historical insight, The Naked Constitution explains the Founders’ original meaning, and demonstrates the urgency of reclaiming America’s founding ideals. Well done. — David Limbaugh

From the Publisher

Brilliant, lively, pugnacious, and very ambitious. Freedman intends to reclaim our founding document for us, the laymen, the ordinary citizens whom the Constitution was intended to serve, and masterfully does so in this lucid and accessible book.

Peter Robinson

A compelling response to the ‘living Constitution’—a fradulent theory that allows judges and politicians to rewrite the Constitution at will...to centralize power and erode basic freedoms. Most importantly, he explains how we can return to the Founders’ principles of individual liberty and limited government.

Mark Levin

In this very entertaining and informative book, Freedman skewers those who have judicially rewritten the Constitution at the expense of our individual liberties. Well-researched and full of historical insight, The Naked Constitution explains the Founders’ original meaning, and demonstrates the urgency of reclaiming America’s founding ideals. Well done.

David Limbaugh