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Even as we marvel at the grandeur of our constitutional system, we can't resist tinkering with it. Amending America tells the dramatic story of how, over the past 206 years, the American people have reshaped the Constitution to meet the country's changing needs. It describes how we have adopted 27 amendments since 1789-and debated and rejected 10,000 more. A provocative examination of one of America's most important yet least-known democratic tools, Amending America brings to life events in our history that continue to resonate today as, as various politicians have set their hearts on amendments to balance the budget, to ban abortion, or to allow school prayer. "A wonderful book. . . . A magnificent treasure trove of American history."—Arthur R. Miller, Bruce Bromley Professor of Law, Harvard Law School. "A skillfully rendered, comprehensive, and engaging study of Article V's procedures for amending the Constitution."—Washington Post "Instructive and fascinating. The book is thorough, erudite, and packed with the anecdotes that make our political past so enjoyable to review."—Minneapolis Star Tribune. "Admirably illuminates the complex and remarkable history of the American people's repeated attempts to amend the Constituion, and captures that history's enduring significance."—William E. Nelson, author of The Fourteenth Amendment: From Political Principle to Judicial Doctrine "Will amply repay its readers. Scholars of American constitutional development should find the book a useful addition to their shelves; general readers should find it an interesting and enjoyable way to learn about some often overlooked aspects of American history."—Sanford Levinson, History Book Club News. "Invaluable for just about anybody seeking to understand the contradictions of our approach to constitutional government."—Herbert S. Parmet, author of Richard Nixon and His America. "An intelligent, carefully researched, and highly readable account."—Detroit News. "The authors have made our country's charter the centerpiece of a suspenseful and still-unfolding national adventure."—Norfolk Virginian-Pilot and Ledger-Star. "An anecdotal guide to the debates and conflicts over each amendment."—Publishers Weekly. "A thoughtful history of the amendments ot the Constitution and an excellent delineation of issues debated by modern constitutional scholars."—Kirkus Reviews. "An excellent work about an often-ignored issue. Recommended for all libraries."—Library Journal. "A fresh and reassuring picture of a living, flexible document strong enough to accept constant challenge and occasional change. The amending process, used wisely, helps meet the needs of an evolving nation. This is an unusual survey of this always-timely process."—Anniston (Alabama) Star "For a book with such a weighty subject, Amending America is surprisingly entertaining and humorous."—Alan Mass in the New York Law Journal.
John Bingham was the architect of the rebirth of the United States following the Civil War. A leading antislavery lawyer and congressman from Ohio, Bingham wrote the most important part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees fundamental rights and equality to all Americans. He was also at the center of two of the greatest trials in history, giving the closing argument in the military prosecution of John Wilkes Booth’s co-conspirators for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and in the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. And more than any other man, Bingham played the key role in shaping the Union’s policy towards the occupied ex-Confederate States, with consequences that still haunt our politics. American Founding Son provides the most complete portrait yet of this remarkable statesman. Drawing on his personal letters and speeches, the book traces Bingham’s life from his humble roots in Pennsylvania through his career as a leader of the Republican Party. Gerard N. Magliocca argues that Bingham and his congressional colleagues transformed the Constitution that the Founding Fathers created, and did so with the same ingenuity that their forbears used to create a more perfect union in the 1780s. In this book, Magliocca restores Bingham to his rightful place as one of our great leaders. Gerard N. Magliocca is the Samuel R. Rosen Professor at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. He is the author of three books on constitutional law, and his work on Andrew Jackson was the subject of an hour-long program on C-Span’s Book TV.
The 233-year story of how the American people have taken an imperfect constitution—the product of compromises and an artifact of its time—and made it more democratic Who wrote the Constitution? That’s obvious, we think: fifty-five men in Philadelphia in 1787. But much of the Constitution was actually written later, in a series of twenty-seven amendments enacted over the course of two centuries. The real history of the Constitution is the astonishing story of how subsequent generations have reshaped our founding document amid some of the most colorful, contested, and controversial battles in American political life. It’s a story of how We the People have improved our government’s structure and expanded the scope of our democracy during eras of transformational social change. The People’s Constitution is an elegant, sobering, and masterly account of the evolution of American democracy. From the addition of the Bill of Rights, a promise made to save the Constitution from near certain defeat, to the post–Civil War battle over the Fourteenth Amendment, from the rise and fall of the “noble experiment” of Prohibition to the defeat and resurgence of an Equal Rights Amendment a century in the making, The People’s Constitution is the first book of its kind: a vital guide to America’s national charter, and an alternative history of the continuing struggle to realize the Framers’ promise of a more perfect union.
"Examines the history, theory, and politics behind the age qualifications for elected federal office in the United States Constitution. Argues that the right to run for office ought to be extended to all adult-age citizens who are otherwise office-eligible"--Provided by publisher.
"The United States Code is the official codification of the general and permanent laws of the United States of America. The Code was first published in 1926, and a new edition of the code has been published every six years since 1934. The 2012 edition of the Code incorporates laws enacted through the One Hundred Twelfth Congress, Second Session, the last of which was signed by the President on January 15, 2013. It does not include laws of the One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, First Session, enacted between January 2, 2013, the date it convened, and January 15, 2013. By statutory authority this edition may be cited "U.S.C. 2012 ed." As adopted in 1926, the Code established prima facie the general and permanent laws of the United States. The underlying statutes reprinted in the Code remained in effect and controlled over the Code in case of any discrepancy. In 1947, Congress began enacting individual titles of the Code into positive law. When a title is enacted into positive law, the underlying statutes are repealed and the title then becomes legal evidence of the law. Currently, 26 of the 51 titles in the Code have been so enacted. These are identified in the table of titles near the beginning of each volume. The Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives continues to prepare legislation pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 285b to enact the remainder of the Code, on a title-by-title basis, into positive law. The 2012 edition of the Code was prepared and published under the supervision of Ralph V. Seep, Law Revision Counsel. Grateful acknowledgment is made of the contributions by all who helped in this work, particularly the staffs of the Office of the Law Revision Counsel and the Government Printing Office"--Preface.
It is well known that the US Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times since its creation in 1787, but that number does not reflect the true extent of constitutional change in America. Although the Constitution is globally recognized as a written text, it consists also of unwritten rules and principles that are just as important, such as precedents, customs, traditions, norms, presuppositions, and more. These, too, have been amended, but how does that process work? In this book, leading scholars of law, history, philosophy, and political science consider the many theoretical, conceptual, and practical dimensions of what it means to amend America's 'unwritten Constitution': how to change the rules, who may legitimately do it, why leaders may find it politically expedient to enact written instead of unwritten amendments, and whether anything is lost by changing the constitution without a codified constitutional amendment.
The story of how the Constitution has been reshaped over the past 200 years to meet America’s changing needs. Since 1789, 27 amendments were adopted — creating the Bill of Rights, banning liquor, protecting the right to vote and reworking how we choose presidents and senators — and more than 10,000 failed. Proposed amendments tried to stave off the Civil War and then wrote its results into the Constitution. “[A] thoughtful history of the Amendments to the Constitution... An excellent delineation of issues debated by modern constitutional scholars.” — Kirkus “[A] sober, straightforward history of the process of amending the Constitution” — Publishers Weekly “[A] comprehensive and engaging study of Article V’s procedures for amending the constitution.” — Washington Post “The authors capture the essence of the importance of the amending process in a highly readable, gracefully written book... This book, which discusses knotty legal and constitutional issues without stuffiness and in plain language, should be easy reading for students and laypersons.” — The Journal of American History “[A] readable, intelligently organized, and well-informed history of how and why the Constitution has been amended.” — The Historian “[S]cholarly and readable.” — Human Rights “Bernstein’s work is engaging and stimulating... he is to be commended for explaining so carefully just how complex a set of questions and problems cluster around Article 5.” — The American Historical Review “Well written... this volume fills an important gap in the current literature and is likely to be the standard account of amending history for some time to come.” — The American Journal of Legal History “[A] masterful book, daring in its scope and impeccable in its execution. Amending America is a great work of scholarship that does justice to the United States Constitution as a living and evolving document. It is a tribute to the working of American democracy, and contributes to our understanding of its evolution and its unfinished agenda.” — Vartan Gregorian, President, Brown University “A magnificent treasure trove of American history, which brings to life why our Constitution has remained a ‘living document’ for over two centuries. Amending America is a wonderful book for anyone interested in our country.” — Arthur R. Miller, Bruce Bromley Professor of Law, Harvard Law School “Amending America is invaluable for just about anybody seeking to understand the contradictions of our approach to constitutional government. With grace, insight, and considerable information, Bernstein and Agel have written what should be the standard work for a long time to come.” — Herbert S. Parmet, Distinguished Professor of History, City University of New York, author of Richard Nixon and His America “Amending America admirably illuminates the complex and remarkable history of the American people’s repeated attempts to amend the Constitution, and captures that history’s enduring significance. Written with scholarship, clarity, and grace, this book recovers a previously neglected dimension of American constitutional history.” — William E. Nelson, Professor of Law, New York University, author of The Fourteenth Amendment: From Political Principle to Judicial Doctrine “Instructive and fascinating. The book is thorough, erudite, and packed with the anecdotes that make our political past so enjoyable to review.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune “An intelligent, carefully researched, and highly readable account.” — Detroit News
The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.
Collected here in one affordable volume are the most important documents of the United States of America: The Constitution of the United States of America with the Bill of Rights and all of the Amendments; The Declaration of Independence; and the Articles of Confederation. These three documents are the basis for our entire way of life. Every citizen should have a copy.