Engines of Liberty: The Power of Citizen Activists to Make Constitutional Law

Description

From the national legal director of the ACLU, an essential guidebook for anyone seeking to stand up for fundamental civil liberties and rights One of Washington Post's Notable Nonfiction Books of 2016 In an age of executive overreach, what role do American citizens have in safeguarding our Constitution and defending liberty? Must we rely on the federal courts, and the Supreme Court above all, to protect our rights? In Engines of Liberty, the esteemed legal scholar David Cole argues that we all have a part to play in the grand civic dramas of our era--and in a revised introduction and conclusion, he proposes specific tactics for fighting Donald Trump's policies. Examining the most successful rights movements of the last thirty years, Cole reveals how groups of ordinary Americans confronting long odds have managed, time and time again, to convince the courts to grant new rights and protect existing ones. Engines of Liberty is a fundamentally new explanation of how our Constitution works and the part citizens play in it. Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Epigraph Introduction PART ONE: Marriage Equality 1The Vision 2A Marathon, Not a Sprint: Vermont 3One Step Forward, How Many Back? Massachusetts 4A Victory Lost—and Regained: California 5Losing Forward: Maine 6The End Game: Windsor and Obergefell PART TWO: Right to Bear Arms 7One State at a Time 8Revisionist History 9Federal Forums 10Supreme Recognition 11People Power PART THREE: Human Rights in the War on Terror 12“Completely Hopeless” 13Korematsu’s Legacy 14At Home Abroad 15Messages and Messengers 16Transformative Transparency 17The Obama Difference Conclusion Chronologies Acknowledgments About the Author Also by David Cole Praise for Engines of Liberty Notes Index