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

Description

From Kennebunkport to Kauai, from the Rio Grande to the Northern Rockies, ours is a vast republic. While we may be united under one Constitution, separate and distinct states remain, each with its own constitution and culture. Geographic idiosyncrasies add more than just local character. Regional understandings of law and justice have shaped and reshaped our nation throughout history. America's Constitution, our founding and unifying document, looks slightly different in California than it does in Kansas. In The Law of the Land, renowned legal scholar Akhil Reed Amar illustrates how geography, federalism, and regionalism have influenced some of the biggest questions in American constitutional law. Writing about Illinois, “the land of Lincoln," Amar shows how our sixteenth president's ideas about secession were influenced by his Midwestern upbringing and outlook. All of today's Supreme Court justices, Amar notes, learned their law in the Northeast, and New Yorkers... Preface Part I: Constitutional Interpreters 1. ILLINOIS: Abraham Lincoln and the American Union 2. ALABAMA: Hugo Black and the Hall of Fame 3. NEW YORK: Robert Jackson and the Judicialization of the Judiciary 4. CALIFORNIA: Anthony Kennedy and the Ideal of Equality Part II: Constitutional Cases 5. KANSAS: Living in the Shadow of Brown v. Board 6. IOWA: Rereading Tinker vs. Des Moines 7. FLORIDA: Getting to the Bottom of Bush V. Gore PART III: Constitutional Provisions and Principles 8. OHIO: A Buckeye-State View of Presidents Without Mandates 9. TEXAS: A Lone-Star View of Presidential Selection and Succession 10. WYOMING: A Rocky-Mountain View of the Second Amendment 11. MASSACHUSETTS: A Bay-State View of the Fourth Amendment 12. NEW JERSEY: Lord Camden Meets Federalism Conclusion Acknowledgments Appendix: The Constitution of the United States Notes Index