A Constitution for All Times - 9780262019897

Pamela S. Karlan is a unique figure in American law. A professor at Stanford LawSchool and former counsel for the NAACP, she has argued seven cases at the Supreme Court and workedon dozens more as a clerk for Justice Harry Blackmun. In her first book written for a generalaudience, she examines what happens in American courtrooms -- especially the Supreme Court -- andwhat it means for our everyday lives and to our national commitments to democracy, justice, andfairness.

Through an exploration of current hot-button legal issues -- fromvoting rights to the death penalty, health care, same-sex marriage, invasive high-tech searches, andgun control -- Karlan makes a sophisticated and resonant case for her vision of the Constitution. Atthe heart of that vision is the conviction that the Constitution is an evolving document thatenables government to solve novel problems and expand the sphere of human freedom. As skepticscharge congressional overreach on such issues as the Affordable Care Act and even voting rights,Karlan pushes back. On individual rights in particular, she believes the Constitution allowsCongress to enforce the substance of its amendments. And she calls out the Roberts Court for itsdisdain for the other branches of government and for its alignment with a conservativeagenda.