From prosecuting murderers in Chicago, to arguing before the Supreme Court, to authoring more than a dozen books, Georgetown University law professor Randy Barnett has played an integral role in the rise of originalism—the movement to identify, restore, and defend the original meaning of the Constitution. Thanks in part to his efforts, by 2018 a majority of sitting Supreme Court justices self-identified as 'originalists.'
After writing seminal books on libertarianism and contract law, Barnett pivoted to constitutional law. His mission to restore 'the lost Constitution' took him from the schoolhouse to the courthouse, where he argued the medical marijuana case of Gonzeles v. Raich in the Supreme Court—a case now taught to every law student. Later, he devised and spearheaded the constitutional challenge to Obamacare. All this earned him major profiles in such publications as the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times. Now he recounts his compelling journey from a working-class kid in Calumet City, Illinois, to 'Washington Power Breaker,' as the Congressional Quarterly Weekly called him.
The engaging story of his rise from obscurity to one of the most influential thinkers in America is an inspiring how-to guide for anyone seeking real-world advancement of justice and liberty for all.
Adopted in 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment profoundly changed the Constitution, giving the federal judiciary and Congress new powers to protect the fundamental rights of individuals from being violated by the states. Yet, according to Randy Barnett and Evan Bernick, the Supreme Court has long misunderstood or ignored the original meaning of the amendment's key clauses, covering the privileges and immunities of citizenship, due process of law, and the equal protection of the laws.
Antislavery advocates advanced arguments informed by natural rights, the Declaration of Independence, and the common law. Although their arguments lost in the courts, the Republican Party was formed to advance an antislavery political agenda, eventually bringing about abolition. Then, when abolition alone proved insufficient to thwart Southern repression and provide for civil equality, the Fourteenth Amendment was enacted. Finally, Congress used its powers to pass Reconstruction-era civil rights laws that tell us much about the original scope of the amendment.
The Original Meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment shows how the principles of the Declaration eventually came to modify the Constitution and proposes workable doctrines for implementing the key provisions of Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Constitution of the United States begins with the words: "We the People." But from the earliest days of the American republic, there have been two competing notions of "the People," which lead to two very different visions of the Constitution. Those who view "We the People" collectively think popular sovereignty resides in the people as a group, which leads them to favor a "democratic" constitution that allows the "will of the people" to be expressed by majority rule. In contrast, those who think popular sovereignty resides in the people as individuals contend that a "republican" constitution is needed to secure the pre-existing inalienable rights of "We the People," each and every one, against abuses by the majority. In Our Republican Constitution, renowned legal scholar Randy E. Barnett tells the fascinating story of how this debate arose shortly after the Revolution, leading to the adoption of a new and innovative "republican" constitution; and how the struggle over slavery led to its completion by a newly formed Republican Party.
