"An innovative, insightful, and often humorous look at the Constitution's lesser-known clauses, offering a fresh approach to understanding our democracy. In this captivating and witty book, Jay Wexler draws on his extensive background in constitutional law to shine a much-deserved light on some of the Constitution's lesser-known parts. For a variety of reasons, many of the Constitution's "odd clauses" never make it to any court, and therefore never make headlines or even law school classrooms that teach from judicial ...
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"An innovative, insightful, and often humorous look at the Constitution's lesser-known clauses, offering a fresh approach to understanding our democracy. In this captivating and witty book, Jay Wexler draws on his extensive background in constitutional law to shine a much-deserved light on some of the Constitution's lesser-known parts. For a variety of reasons, many of the Constitution's "odd clauses" never make it to any court, and therefore never make headlines or even law school classrooms that teach from judicial decisions. Wexler delves into many of those more obscure passages, which he uses to illuminate the essence of our democratic process, including our tripartite government; the principles of equality, liberty, and privacy; and the integrity of our democracy"--
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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The Constitution of the United States is the oldest functioning written constitution in the world. Many Americans become aware of the Constitution and its major provisions when the Supreme Court decides a controversial case in matters involving free speech, civil rights, criminal justice, or other highly visible issues. But the constitution is a working document which established a government, the division of powers in the government, and the relationship of the Federal government to the states. Many of the nuts-and-bolts provisions of the Constitution and its 27 amendments remain obscure even to lawyers who do not work with them on a regular basis. Jay Wexler's upcoming book "The Odd Clauses: Understanding the Constitution through ten of its most Curious Provisions" (2011) offers a tour of some of the provisions of the Constitution that do not receive a great deal of attention but which remain important to understanding the document and American government. Wexler has been a professor at the Boston University School of Law since 2001. He served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg and worked for two years at the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) of the Department of Justice. OLC is charged with difficult issues of constitutional interpretation for the government.
Besides his strong legal credentials, Wexler is a writer and a humorist who has published stories and funny essays. His many talents show in this book but do not always work well together. Although the learning in the book is impressive and well conveyed, the sometimes biting and iconoclastic humor, satire, and the colloquial writing style, full of contemporary slang and street idiom, frequently distracted from the presentation. To take an example out of many, Wexler offers two imagined scenarios of the nine Supreme Court Justices debating one or another legal point. The little scenes are intended to be funny and perhaps succeed. The Justices are not presented as particularly thoughtful individuals, and the scenes do not illuminate the law or the process of decision making. In addition, Wexler is too dogmatically sure of the "right" legal answer and approach in some controversial issues. It is valuable to see an individual learned in the Constitution stake out and defend a position. In this book, however, Wexler sometimes just states his position and brushes aside sharply those who might disagree with or question his conclusions.
With these shortcomings, the book offers valuable insight into the Constitution and into issues of Constitutional interpretation. In each chapter of the book, Wexler takes one of the more obscure constitutional clauses and begins with an incident showing the circumstances in which the clause must be interpreted and applied. He then discusses the history of the clause, including Court decisions that have construed it over the years. Wexler links the clause he discusses to other Federal laws and Constitutional provisions, which offers help both in understanding the clause under discussion and the broader scope of the Constitution. It also gives the book a bit of a wandering approach which is appealing. At the end of each chapter, Wexler indicates how the issue with which he began the chapter was resolved, if it was, and offers his own thoughts on the significance of the clause. His conclusions are thoughtful and worthwhile.
The book touches upon issues of Constitutional interpretation. Some of the well-known provisions of the Constitution are notoriously vague, such as the due process or equal protection provisions. Such clauses require much interpretation to be understood. Some of the provisions Wexler discusses are markedly specific. For example, Wexler discusses the Constitutional requirement that an individual must be at least 35 years old to be the President. How do the presence of both specific and vague provisions in the Constitution effect how one interprets the document? Wexler raises the issue, but tries to show how some scholars have argued that even the age requirement in the Constitution is textually indeterminate and means that the person must be of requisite maturity rather than meeting the test of a specific age requirement. Would a person aged 34 and one half qualify to be president? Wexler suggests the issue is debatable. I think Wexler gives more credit to "indeterminate" readings than they deserve, especially when faced with a clear bright-line text.
The ten provisions Wexler discusses serve a variety of purposes, and Wexler explains them well. He discusses an important and uniquely American provision which prohibits holding joint positions in the executive and legislative branches of the government. There are interesting discussions of the metric system, recess appointments, the Supreme Court's power to hear lawsuits between States, the constitutional requirements for presidents (including the well-thrashed out issues of whether President Obama and candidate McCain were natural-born citizens as required by the Constitution), and prohibition, and whether it survived in the 21st amendment which repealed the earlier prohibition amendment. Wexler offers three good chapters on letters of marque (which allows Congress to engage privateers to combat piracy), bills of attainder and the prohibition of titles of nobility. A final chapter examines the third amendment and its provisions against quartering of soldiers. This provision achieved brief notoriety when it was used by Justice Douglas in a 1960's case involving the right to privacy. Wexler offers a commonsense conclusion that the Third Amendment is important precisely because there has been so little litigation about it. It provision against the quartering of soldiers has rarely, if ever, been violated.
Both lay readers and lawyers will gain increased understanding about the Constitution from reading this book. Prior background and familiarity with the document will be valuable. The book may encourage readers to think about the nature of American constitutionalism and, in ways that may not necessarily be Wexler's own, about the nature of Constitutional interpretation.
