Monday, February 1, 2010

The Citizen's Constitution- An Annotated Guide by Seth Lipsky


This book is a must for followers of the Court. Carefully put together by Mr. Lipsky the book is laid out Article by Article and Amendment by Amendment with the history and thinking behind each one.

I took this book out because I have always been confused by the thinking that went into Roe v. Wade. It has always been my opinion that a woman's right to privacy, hence the choice to have an abortion, was well founded under the Third and Ninth Amendments of the Constitution. The Court found that right in Article 14, one of the so called Reconstruction Amendments.

And of course, my all time favorite Amendment is the 27th, which was proposed in 1789 and not ratified until 1992. It's about 30 words long and delienates the Compensation for Senators and Members of Congress. I don't do politics here, but this is some Amendment!

In short, for a guy like me, who has copies of the Constitution in the car, on my scan stick, and even by my reading chair in the TV room, this book is an indispensable tool for deciphering the intent of some of our most basic and controversial laws. Coupled with "The Oxford Companion to The Supreme Court" this book will see you through the 6 o'clock news and beyond.

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