To Secure These Rights: The Declaration of Independence and Constitutional Interpretation

Synopsis

A legal scholar puts forward a rigorous and provocative theory of constitutional interpretation that cuts across today&’s partisan divide.To Secure These Rights enters the fascinating—and often contentious—debate over constitutional interpretation. Scott Douglas Gerber argues that the Constitution of the United States should be interpreted in light of the natural rights political philosophy of the Declaration of Independence and that the Supreme Court is the institution of American government that should be primarily responsible for identifying and applying that philosophy in American life. Importantly, the theory advanced in this book—what Gerber calls liberal originalism—is neither consistently liberal nor consistently conservative in the modern conception of those terms. Rather, the theory is liberal in the classic sense of viewing the basic purpose of government to be safeguarding the natural rights of individuals. As Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men. In essence, Gerber maintains that the Declaration articulates the philosophical ends of our nation, and that the Constitution embodies the means to effectuate those ends. Gerber's analysis reveals that the Constitution cannot be properly understood without recourse to history, political philosophy, and law.

Copyright:

1995

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

Book Size:

256 Pages

ISBN-13:

9780814732502

Related ISBNs:

9780814730898

Publisher:

NYU Press

Date of Addition:

03/05/25

Copyrighted By:

New York University Press

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History, Nonfiction, Law, Legal Issues and Ethics, Philosophy, Politics and Government

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.