Amar - The law of the land: a grand tour of our constitutional republic

Copyright 2015 by Akhil Reed Amar

Published by Basic BooksA Member of the Perseus Books Group

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Designed by Cynthia Young

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Amar, Akhil Reed, author.

The law of the land : a grand tour of our constitutional republic / Akhil Reed Amar.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-465-06589-9 (ebook)

1. Constitutional lawUnited StatesStates. 2. ConstitutionsUnited StatesStates.

3. LawUnited StatesStates. 4. United States. Constitution. 2nd Amendment.

5. United States. Constitution. 4th Amendment. 6. Constitutional lawUnited States.

I. Title.

KF4530.A43 2015

342.73dc23

2014041017

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For my parents, siblings, wife, and children, with precious memories of our family road trips.

We got there.

Contents

Fifty distinct states, spanning a vast continent, find shelter under a common federal Constitution. Some of these states would, as independent nations, rank high among the worlds great powers. California now rivals France in economic output, though the French would say that they still hold the lead in wine.

This is a book about Americas Constitution that aims to take states and regions seriously. Each chapter tells a national story about the American constitutional system, but does so through the window of an individual state, with particular attention to some person, case, idea, or event closely associated with that specific state or the broader region of which that state is a part.

My stories feature a dozen states and encompass every major region of the countrythe Northeast (both New England and the Mid-Atlantic), the South (both deep and peripheral), the mid-American heartland (both the Old Northwest and the trans-Mississippi plains), and the West (both the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Rim). Over the course of twelve chapters, I explore legal, political, and historical material from every era of our nations history; discuss all three branches of the federal government and their interconnections with states and state law; and touch on many of our Constitutions largest themes, with particular emphasis on the presidency, the Supreme Court, and the Bill of Rights.

Constitutional interpreters, constitutional cases, constitutional provisions and principlesthese are basic elements of Americas constitutional saga, and all are showcased in the panoramic tour that follows. Specifically, Part I of this book profiles four of the most influential constitutional decision-makers in American historyIllinoiss Abraham Lincoln, the mightiest constitutional figure of the past two hundred years; Alabamas Hugo Black, the dominant constitutional jurist of the twentieth century; New Yorks Robert Jackson, an especially graceful midcentury justice with many prominent admirers and disciples; and Californias Anthony Kennedy, the powerful swing justice on the current Court. Part II probes a trio of special constitutional law cases: Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the most acclaimed judicial ruling since the Civil War; Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), an admittedly less famous opinion that holds a place in my heart for reasons I explain; and Bush v. Gore (2000), the most curious judicial decision of our still-young century. Part III ponders various structural principles involving presidential selection and succession and then parses a couple of constitutional provisions that usually get peoples juices flowingthe Second and Fourth Amendments.

At the end of this transcontinental tour, I pull my individual stories together in a Conclusion that explains how the various chapters fit into a larger and distinctly American mosaic of federalisma mosaic reflecting subtle constitutional variation from state to state and across broader geographic regions. Readers who just cant wait to see how the stories in individual chapters form parts of a more encompassing framework of federalism and regionalism are welcome to sneak a peek at this Conclusion at any time in their journey through this book. Especially impatient readers may even wish to scan or read the Conclusion before starting .

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BOTH LITERALLY AND LEGALLY, this book covers a lot of ground. In my opening chapter, on Lincoln, I discuss the ground itself and describe how the distinct geographic landmass called America shaped the very idea of an American Constitution. The law of the land, indeed.

As you read this book in the quiet comfort of your home, or on a bus or at the beach, I hope you will occasionally imagine yourself actually setting foot and spending time in each of the featured locations, soaking up the local ambience and reflecting on how our common Constitution looks slightly different from state to state and across the various regions of this great land.

Akhil Reed Amar

New Haven, CT

Spring 2015

ILLINOIS, the self-described Land of Lincoln, claims a special kinship with Americas sixteenth president, who in turn professed profound gratitude to his adopted home state. This is what President-elect Lincoln said about the states capital city, Springfield, when he bade it farewell as he boarded an eastbound train in February 1861: No one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe every thing. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon [General] Washington.