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

by Timothy Sandefur

Overview

The Conscience of the Constitution: The Declaration of Independence and the Right to Liberty documents a forgotten truth: the word “democracy” is nowhere to be found in either the Constitution or the Declaration. But it is the overemphasis of democracy by the legal community–rather than the primacy of liberty, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence–that has led to the growth of government power at the expense of individual rights. Now, more than ever, Sandefur explains, the Declaration of Independence should set the framework for interpreting our fundamental law. In the very first sentence of the Constitution, the founding fathers stated unambiguously that “liberty” is a blessing. Today, more and more Americans are realizing that their individual freedoms are being threatened by the ever-expanding scope of the government. Americans have always differed over important political issues, but some things should not be settled by majority vote. In The Conscience of the Constitution, Timothy Sandefur presents a dramatic new challenge to the status quo of constitutional law.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781939709042
Publisher:	Cato Institute
Publication date:	11/12/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	242
File size:	921 KB

About the Author

Timothy Sandefur is an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, an attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation, and the author of Cornerstone of Liberty: Property Rights in 21st-Century America and The Right to Earn a Living: Economic Freedom and the Law.

Table of Contents

Contents Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Democracy And Freedom 2. The Civil War And The Incomplete Reconstruction 3. Substantive Due Process 4. The Attack on Substantive Due Process 5. Judicial Activism 6. Conclusion Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Editorial Reviews

"'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

"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

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