The Naked Constitution: What the Founders Said and Why It Still Matters [HardcoverFrom law school classrooms to the halls of Congress, America’s elites have come to regard the Constitution as a mere decorative parchment to be kept under glass at the National Archives. In The Naked Constitution, conservative legal scholar Adam Freedman defends the controversial doctrine of originalism as the only way to restore the Founding Fathers’ vision of American liberty. Freedman argues that the fashionable “Living Constitution” theory has been used by judges and politicians since the Progressive Era of the early 1900s to centralize power in Washington and to threaten individual freedom.
The Naked Constitution explains the fundamental themes animating America’s founding charter: limited government, federalism, separation of powers, and individual liberty. Freedman explores the nature of each of the three branches of government as well as the key individual rights enshrined in the Constitution to show how original meaning can help answer the most pressing questions facing America today: Can the president invade another country without the approval of Congress? Can he assassinate or spy on American citizens in the name of fighting terror? Do corporations have the same “free speech” rights as individuals? Can the federal government coerce states to adopt particular policies, or force individuals to buy insurance? Ultimately, Freedman calls for a new constitutional convention that will free the nation from capricious courts and idiosyncratic judges, and limit the growth of government for decades to come.
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‘The Living Constitution vs. The Naked Constitution’
By Ed WhelanSeptember 18, 2012 2:40 P.M. At Ricochet, Adam Freedman has posted the first episode of his series of podcasts providing a guided tour of the Constitution. I’m pleased to have taken part in this episode’s discussion with Adam and with lawyer/historian James Poulos. A direct link to the audio file is here.
The “naked Constitution,” as you might have gathered, is Adam’s term for the Constitution itself, stripped of judicial and academic encrustations. I’m very much looking forward to reading Adam’s forthcoming book bearing the same title (its full title is The Naked Constitution: What the Founders Said and Why It Still Matters).
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