51 Imperfect Solutions: States and the Making of American Constitutional Law
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| Anteprima |
When
we think of constitutional law, we invariably think of the United
States Supreme Court and the federal court system. Yet much of our
constitutional law is not made at the federal level. In 51 Imperfect
Solutions, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton argues that
American Constitutional Law should account for the role of the state
courts and state constitutions, together with the federal courts and the
federal constitution, in protecting individual liberties. The book
tells four stories that arise in four different areas of constitutional
law: equal protection; criminal procedure; privacy; and free speech and
free exercise of religion. Traditional accounts of these bedrock debates
about the relationship of the individual to the state focus on
decisions of the United States Supreme Court. But these explanations
tell just part of the story. The book corrects this omission by looking
at each issue-and some others as well-through the lens of many
constitutions, not one constitution; of many courts, not one court; and
of all American judges, not federal or state judges. Taken together, the
stories reveal a remarkably complex, nuanced, ever-changing federalist
system, one that ought to make lawyers and litigants pause before
reflexively assuming that the United States Supreme Court alone has all
of the answers to the most vexing constitutional questions. If there is a
central conviction of the book, it's that an underappreciation of state
constitutional law has hurt state and federal law and has undermined
the appropriate balance between state and federal courts in protecting
individual liberty. In trying to correct this imbalance, the book also
offers several ideas for reform.
