A Constitution for All Times

by Pamela S. Karlan

A prominent lawyer and legal scholar describes her vision of an evolving Constitution, examining current legal issues that range from health care to gun control.

Pamela S. Karlan is a unique figure in American law. A professor at Stanford Law School and former counsel for the NAACP, she has argued seven cases at the Supreme Court and worked on dozens more as a clerk for Justice Harry Blackmun. In her first book written for a general audience, she examines what happens in American courtrooms—especially the Supreme Court—and what it means for our everyday lives and to our national commitments to democracy, justice, and fairness.

Through an exploration of current hot-button legal issues—from voting rights to the death penalty, health care, same-sex marriage, invasive high-tech searches, and gun control—Karlan makes a sophisticated and resonant case for her vision of the Constitution. At the heart of that vision is the conviction that the Constitution is an evolving document that enables government to solve novel problems and expand the sphere of human freedom. As skeptics charge congressional overreach on such issues as the Affordable Care Act and even voting rights, Karlan pushes back. On individual rights in particular, she believes the Constitution allows Congress to enforce the substance of its amendments. And she calls out the Roberts Court for its disdain for the other branches of government and for its alignment with a conservative agenda.

Genres: Law

208 pages, Hardcover

First published September 6, 2013

About the author

Pamela S. Karlan, Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law at Stanford Law School, cofounded the Stanford Law School Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, through which students litigate live cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Reviews

[Cherif Jazra · Rating 2 out of 5]

The major issue with this book is with its structure and the partisanship of the content. The author certainly shows understanding and depth with regards to the many cases mentioned but there is a dominant problem with how the pieces connect with each chapter. We see repetition of topics from one chapter to the other and a lack of a continuing thread. Also there is little to stand in favor of the opposite viewpoint and the author clearly stands against what it views as conservative's attempt to use constitutional interpretive methods like textualism and originalism at their own advantage. The book fails to achieve a level of objectivity. This may be due to the fact that the chapters were actually pieces separately published in the Boston Review and catered to a particular audience. Overall a short read, with some vague and quickly written passages, nevertheless gives a tour of the cases and issues around civil rights and money in politics

[BJ Cefola · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of columns on the interactions between the supreme court, the other government branches, and society.

A good read if you want to know more than you learn from a newspaper story but less than a history book.

[John Kaufmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably 3.5 stars, but I bumped it up. Good, short synopses of some of the major issues the court has faced in recent years and, more importantly, the direction in which the conservative majority has taken the court. It discusses some of the discontinuities with previous Supreme Court rulings as well as some of the internal contradictions the decisions have begun to create for the future.