Toward a Usable Past : Liberty Under State Constitutions

Paul Finkelman

ISBN 10: 0820334960 / ISBN 13: 9780820334967

Published by University Of Georgia Press Sep 2009, 2009

About this Item

Neuware - The United States Supreme Court's relegation of many rights to definition under state constitutional law, combined with the tendency of recent administrations to entrust the states with the task of preserving individual rights, is increasingly making state constitutions the arena where the battles to preserve the rights to life, liberty, property, due process, and equal protection of laws must be fought. Ranging in time from the late 1700s to the late 1900s, Toward a Usable Past offers a series of case studies that examine the protection afforded individual rights by state constitutions and state constitutional law. As it explores the history of liberty at the state level, this volume also investigates the promise and risks of turning to state constitutions to guarantee and expand individual rights. In this book, major scholars and legal practitioners discuss state protections of civil liberty, and ponder the contemporary implications of the state record. The cases examined cover topics ranging from religion in schools during the Federalist era to criminal justice in the late nineteenth century, from racial integration in Kansas before Brown v. Board of Education to legal battles over birth control in the Connecticut Supreme Court. The introduction presents the historical and contemporary significance of the topic and traces the evolution of the federal constitutional law establishing the parameters of state regulation of individual rights.

Seller Inventory # 9780820334967

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Toward a Usable Past : Liberty Under State Constitutions
• Publisher: University Of Georgia Press Sep 2009
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0820334960
• ISBN 13: 9780820334967
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 229W x 152H x 26D millimeters 229 millimeters width by 152 millimeters height by 26 millimeters depth
• Weight: 671 grams

About this title

Synopsis

The United States Supreme Court's relegation of many rights to definition under state constitutional law, combined with the tendency of recent administrations to entrust the states with the task of preserving individual rights, is increasingly making state constitutions the arena where the battles to preserve the rights to life, liberty, property, due process, and equal protection of laws must be fought.

Ranging in time from the late 1700s to the late 1900s, Toward a Usable Past offers a series of case studies that examine the protection afforded individual rights by state constitutions and state constitutional law. As it explores the history of liberty at the state level, this volume also investigates the promise and risks of turning to state constitutions to guarantee and expand individual rights.

In this book, major scholars and legal practitioners discuss state protections of civil liberty, and ponder the contemporary implications of the state record. The cases examined cover topics ranging from religion in schools during the Federalist era to criminal justice in the late nineteenth century, from racial integration in Kansas before Brown v. Board of Education to legal battles over birth control in the Connecticut Supreme Court.

The introduction presents the historical and contemporary significance of the topic and traces the evolution of the federal constitutional law establishing the parameters of state regulation of individual rights.

About the Author

PAUL FINKELMAN is president of Gratz College and an American legal historian. He is the author of several books, including Supreme Injustice: Slavery in the Nation’s Highest Court and A March of Liberty: A Constitutional History of the United States.