An objective examination of the Second Amendment, focusing on the intentions of its authors, its evolution from America's beginnings to the present, and the views expressed by the courts. In The Right to Bear Arms: Rights and Liberties under the Law, the first volume in ABC-CLIO's America's Freedoms series, political scientist Robert J. Spitzer combats hysteria and rhetoric with simple facts. He takes no position on whether more or fewer gun control laws are needed or whether guns are good or bad. Instead, he traces the roots of the Second Amendment, analyzes the opinions and intentions of its authors, follows its application and evolution from its beginnings, and explores the views expressed by the courts. He then carefully compares the intended and the implied meaning of this amendment with the views expressed by the entire spectrum of groups involved in the gun control issue. Armed with the facts, readers can decide for themselves. A detailed analysis traces the right to bear arms from its origins in Britain into the 21st century The book includes key primary source documents, such as federal regulations and Supreme Court decisions, a list of the right to bear arms provisions from 44 state constitutions, and excerpts from the Republican and Democratic Party platforms

This second volume of ReConFort, published open access, addresses the decisive role of constitutional normativity, and focuses on discourses concerning the legal role of constitutional norms. Taken together with ReConFort I (National Sovereignty), it calls for an innovative reassessment of constitutional history drawing on key categories to convey the legal nature of the constitution itself (national sovereignty, precedence, justiciability of power, judiciary as constituted power). In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, constitutional normativity began to complete the legal fixation of the entire political order. This juridification in one constitutional text resulted in a conceptual differentiation from ordinary law, which extends to alterability and justiciability. The early expressions of this 'new order of the ages' suggest an unprecedented and irremediable break with European legal tradition, be it with British colonial governance or the French ancien regime. In fact, while the shift to constitutions as a hierarchically 'higher' form of positive law was a revolutionary change, it also drew upon old liberties. The American constitutional discourse, which was itself heavily influenced by British common law, in turn served as an inspiration for a variety of constitutional experiments - from the French Revolution to Napoleon's downfall, in the halls of the Frankfurt Assembly, on the road to a unified Italy, and in the later theoretical discourse of twentieth-century Austria. If the constitution states the legal rules for the law-making process, then its Kelsian primacy is mandatory. Also included in this volume are the French originals and English translations of two vital documents. The first - Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes' Du Jury Constitutionnaire (1795) - highlights an early attempt to reconcile the democratic values of the French Revolution with the pragmatic need to legally protect the Revolution. The second - the 1812 draft of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland - presents the 'constitutional propaganda' of the Russian Tsar Alexander I to bargain for the support of the Lithuanian and Polish nobility. These documents open new avenues of research into Europe's constitutional history: one replete with diverse contexts and national experiences, but above all an overarching motif of constitutional decisiveness that served to complete the juridification of sovereignty. (www.reconfort.eu)

This book is dedicated to Joachim Jens Hesse, a scholar whose multi-faceted work may be characterised as an attempt at "crossing borders" in several respects. These primarily include fostering interdisciplinary cooperation between law, economics and social sciences, analysing public sector developments in an international and intercultural perspective as well as bridging the "gap" between academia and practical politics. Therefore, the volume deals with a subject that covers these features in an exemplary manner: the interrelationship between nation-state constitutions and their international environments. In this context, ongoing processes of transnationalisation have not only contributed to blurring the formerly clear-cut boundaries between these two domains, but also provoked a growing interest in and demand for comparative, interdisciplinary and applied research on constitutional developments. The authors of this Festschrift include eminent lawyers, economists and political scientists from Europe, the United States and East Asia who worked together with Joachim Jens Hesse in various contexts.

Taking into account the political and intellectual forces that shape Supreme Court decisions, Constitutional Debate in Action examines how and why the U.S. Constitution continues to grow and adapt to human wants, passions, and values. Not your traditional constitutional-law textbook, this three-volume set views the Constitution as an institutionalized form of debate by which people press their political demands and arguments upon the Supreme Court. This process-oriented approach goes beyond a straightforward examination of how the decisions of Supreme Court justices have transformed constitutional doctrine through the ages; it explores the actual process of adjudication itself. Each case study covers the legal and political background; including relevant out-of-court discussions, to help students understand the political framework in which the Supreme Court operates. Actual legal briefs filed in landmark cases, and corresponding oral arguments before the Supreme Court, provide students with a front-row seat to the process of constitutional argumentation. As they evaluate the opposing viewpoints, students are better equipped to evaluate critically final Supreme Court decisions and opinions. In addition, students gain a valuable perspective on the role of the Supreme Court in our constitutional democracy. Each volume examines in-depth key landmark decisions. Governmental Powers covers: The Power of Judicial Review:Marbury v. Madison, The Commerce Power:NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp , The War Power:Korematsu v. United States, Presidential Emergency Powers:Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, and Executive Privilege:United States v. Nixon.

Three hundred and fifty-one men were executed by British Army firing-squads between September 1914 and November 1920. By far the greatest number were shot for desertion in the face of the enemy. Controversial even at the time, these executions of soldiers amid the horrors of the Western Front continue to haunt the history of war. This book provides a critical analysis of military law in the British army and other major armies during the First World War, with particular reference to the use of the death penalty. This study establishes a full cultural and legal framework for military discipline and compares British military law with French and German military law. It includes case studies of British troops on the Frontline.

This book examines the U.S. Constitution by focusing on its origins in Western political thought and its organization and subsequent amendments. It describes the document as a series of choices among alternative governmental institutions that are designed to provide national security and secure ordered liberty.

The South African case of Harris v. (Donges) Minister of the Interior is one familiar to most students of British constitutional law. The case was triggered by the South African government's attempt in the 1950s to disenfranchise non-white voters on the Cape province. It is still referred to as the case which illustrates that as a matter of constitutional doctrine it is not possible for the United Kingdom Parliament to produce a statute which limits the powers of successive Parliaments. The purpose of this book is twofold. First of all it offers a rather fuller picture of the story lying behind the Harris litigation,and the process of British acquisition of and dis-engagement from the government of its 'white' colonies in southern Africa as well as the ensuing emergence and consolidation of apartheid as a system of political and social organisation. Secondly the book attempts to use the South African experience to address broader contemporary British concerns about the nature of our Constitution and the role of the courts and legislature in making the Constitution work. In pursuing this second aim, the author has sought to create a counterweight to the traditional marginalistion of constitutional law and theory within the British polity. The Harris saga conveys better than any episode of British political history the enormous significance of the choices a country makes (or fails to make) when it embarks upon the task of creating or revising its constitutional arrangements. This, then, is a searching re-examination of the fundamentals of constitution-making, written in the light of the British government's commitment to promoting wholesale constitutional reform.

"The ornament of the Common Law." Lyttleton, His Treatise of Tenures, in French and English. A New Edition, Printed From the Most Ancient Copies, And Collated With the Various Readings of the Cambridge MSS. To Which Are Added The Ancient Treatise of the Olde Tenures, And the Customs of Kent. Originally published: London: S. Sweet, 1841. lv, 1], 727 pp. Hardcover. New.
With index. Parallel text in Law-French and English. Written during the reign of Edward IV 1442-1483], Littleton's Tenures was much admired for its learning and style. It is concerned with the doctrines of old English Common Law regarding the tenures of real estate as well as issues related to real property. This venerable work, which Coke called "the ornament of the Common Law, and the most perfect and absolute work that ever was written in any humane science," is a considered a landmark because it renounced the principles of Roman law in favor of a set of guidelines and doctrines drawn from the Year Books, and when necessary, hypothetical cases.
Sir Thomas Littleton 1402-1481] was a King's Serjeant, Judge of Assize and Justice of the Common Pleas.
T.E. Tomlins 1804-1872] was a notable legal writer and antiquarian. His is best known for his Popular-Law Dictionary (1838). (He is confused sometime with his uncle, Sir Thomas Edlyne Tomlins, the prolific legal writer and editor of the later editions of Jacob's Law-Dictionary.)

What is a constitutional right? If asked, most Americans would say that it is an entitlement to act as one pleases - i.e., that rights protect autonomy. That understanding, however, is wrong; it is, indeed, The Myth of Rights. The primary purpose and effect of constitutional rights in our society is structural. These rights restrain governmental power in order to maintain a balance between citizens and the State, and an appropriately limited role for the State in our society. Of course, restricting governmental power does have the effect of advancing individual autonomy, but that is not the primary purpose of rights, and furthermore, constitutional rights protect individual autonomy to a far lesser degree that is generally believed.
Professor Bhagwat brings clarity to many difficult controversies with a structural approach towards constitutional rights. Issues discussed include flag-burning, the ongoing debates over affirmative action and same-sex marriage, and the great battles over executive power fought during the second Bush Administration. The Myth of Rights addresses the constitutional issues posed in these and many other areas of law and public policy, and explains why a structural approach to constitutional rights illuminates these disputes in ways that an autonomy-based approach cannot. Readers will understand that while constitutional rights play a critical role in our legal and political system, it is a very different role from what is commonly assumed.

This insightful research review provides an analysis of the modern literature on foreign relations law. The topics explored include; the history of foreign relations law, the role of the courts in adjudicating foreign affairs disputes, executive power over foreign affairs, the domestic status of treaties, the phenomenon of executive agreements, the judicial application of customary international law, and the distribution of authority over war powers. The review provides a unique birds-eye view of the entire field and promises to be an invaluable tool for academics as well as a fascinating read for those interested in the subject.

This book is about enforcing privacy and data protection. It demonstrates different approaches - regulatory, legal and technological - to enforcing privacy. If regulators do not enforce laws or regulations or codes or do not have the resources, political support or wherewithal to enforce them, they effectively eviscerate and make meaningless such laws or regulations or codes, no matter how laudable or well-intentioned. In some cases, however, the mere existence of such laws or regulations, combined with a credible threat to invoke them, is sufficient for regulatory purposes. But the threat has to be credible. As some of the authors in this book make clear - it is a theme that runs throughout this book - "carrots" and "soft law" need to be backed up by "sticks" and "hard law". The authors of this book view privacy enforcement as an activity that goes beyond regulatory enforcement, however. In some sense, enforcing privacy is a task that befalls to all of us. Privacy advocates and members of the public can play an important role in combatting the continuing intrusions upon privacy by governments, intelligence agencies and big companies. Contributors to this book - including regulators, privacy advocates, academics, SMEs, a Member of the European Parliament, lawyers and a technology researcher - share their views in the one and only book on Enforcing Privacy.

The principle of content-neutrality is the cornerstone of freedom of expression jurisprudence, protecting the core values of freedom of speech set out in the first amendment, whilst also enabling the government to place reasonable restrictions on protected speech. The Politics of Freedom of Expression examines the US Supreme Court's decision-making in freedom of expression cases, from the Earl Warren Court in 1953 to the 2012 decisions of the John Roberts Court, assessing the extent to which the justices take into consideration their own political attitudes, jurisprudence and external factors such as federal government participation. In doing so, the book highlights the role of the civil rights movement in developing the content-neutrality jurisprudential regime. Establishing 'jurisprudential regime theory' as a framework for incorporating the various factors that can affect decision-making, the author draws on quantitative, qualitative and interpretive methods in order to analyse the justices' changing treatment of content-based and content-neutral cases over time. This unique theoretical approach allows the text to push beyond the traditional 'law versus politics' debate in order to critically evaluate the importance of content-neutrality to the Supreme Court's decision-making, and to compare decision-making in the US with Canada, Germany, Japan and the UK.

The UK is going through a period of unprecedented constitutional change. There is much unfinished business, and further changes still to come. Where are these changes taking us? In this book, leading political scientists and lawyers forecast the impact of these changes on the UK's key institutions and the constitution as a whole.

This book analyses the legal aspects of international claims by indigenous peoples for the repatriation of their cultural property, and explores what legal norms and normative orders would be appropriate for resolving these claims. To establish context, the book first provides insights into the exceptional legislative responses to the cultural property claims of Native American tribes in the United States and looks at the possible relevance of this national law on the international level. It then shifts to the multinational setting by using the method of legal pluralism and takes into consideration international human rights law, international cultural heritage law, the applicable national laws in the United Kingdom, France and Switzerland, transnational law such as museum codes, and decision-making in extra-legal procedures. In the process, the book reveals the limits of the law in dealing with the growing imperative of human rights in the field, and concludes with three basic insights that are of key relevance for improving the law and decision-making with regard to indigenous peoples' cultural property. "

Punishing Corporate Crime: Legal Penalties for Criminal and Regulatory Violations provides a practical discussion of criminal punishment trends directed at the corporate entity. Corporate punishment, for the most part, has traditionally occurred either in the form of a fine or, in the extreme, a heavy sanction that terminates the business. This timely book analyzes the historical and statutory bases of corporate punishment and reviews the latest remedies now employed by the government, including receivership and monitoring, disgorgement of profits, restitution, integrity agreements, and disbarment from regulated fields. Punishing Corporate Crime explores the new and evolving area of corporate criminal punishment that has emerged in the post- Enron era. This book offers key advice in addressing the new and evolving punishments that face corporations, as well as a consideration of preventative programs.

An expert examination of U.S. immigration law and its various reforms from 1965 to the present. U.S. Immigration: A Reference Handbook is an authoritative, timely, and balanced review of immigration law in the United States. This title ranges from the "Kennedy" law of 1965 to the recent restructuring of the Immigration and Naturalization Service as a part of the creation of the new Department of Homeland Security. The work offers a clear look at historic and ongoing immigration problems in the United States and the reforms enacted to address them. It provides insightful summaries of key statutes and landmark court cases, as well as biographical profiles of the principal players in U.S. immigration policy. Coverage includes problems within our borders such as legal and political attempts to control illegal immigration, to global concerns including terrorism, epidemics, and economic and trade issues. Provides biographical sketches of both governmental and nongovernmental figures involved in U.S. immigration policy reform such as Doris Meissner and Lydio Tomasi Summarizes every key U.S. law and court decision concerning immigration since 1965 including the Immigration Acts of 1990 and 1996 as well as the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

American constitutionalism remains this country's greatest contribution to human freedom. The ideas and ideals expressed in the U.S. Constitution and related documents, and the institutions developed in them have influenced different people in different lands over the past two hundred years. In American Constitutionalism Abroad, six distinguished historians, political scientists, and international law experts, discuss American constitutionalism in various regions of the world at different times, and within different contexts. In terms of time and space, the influence of American constitutionalism is demonstrated in Europe between 1776 and 1848; Latin America during the nineteenth century; Asia in the twentieth century; and Germany in 1949 and France in 1958. One essay shows how the legacy of American constitutionalism was expressed in parallel movements in the nineteenth century to create a peaceful, liberal world order based on a proposed international legal code. By tracing the influence of the documents, procedures, and institutions that came into being within the United States during the founding period from 1776 to 1791, and by analyzing how they were received and perceived by constitutionmakers in other countries, it is possible to follow the spread of American constitutionalism through various parts of the world over time. By focusing on the influence of American constitutionalism abroad, this book breaks exciting new ground in the study of the Constitution. This work will appeal not only to American and legal historians, but to political scientists as well.

Constitutional theory, Earl Maltz argues, has reached a critical impasse marked by a largely unproductive stalemate between originalists and nonoriginalists regarding the proper role of judicial review. It's time, he says, for both sides to rethink their positions if any hope for a more viable model of judicial review is to be realized. This book is his answer to the dilemma.

Maltz reorients the debate between originalists (those who believe that judges should be bound by the original understanding in constitutional adjudication) and nonoriginalists (those who believe the original understanding should not be binding). Advocates of both sides, he shows, generally proceed from three misguided premises: that originalism is linked to both judicial deference and political conservatism; that originalism is the sole alternative to some less deferential approach to judicial review; and that the question of "legitimacy" is the central unresolved issue facing nonoriginalist theorists. This book challenges each of these premises.

Maltz's contribution is threefold. First, going beyond the influential writings of authors such as Raoul Berger and Robert Bork, he reformulates the justification for originalist review and refines originalist theory itself. Second, he argues that a pure originalist approach mandates excessive judicial intervention under the Constitution; as he points out, the same argument that justifies interventionism in individual rights cases might also require the court to limit sharply the power of the federal government to regulate the economy. Third, he shows that--even leaving aside problems of legitimacy--most nonoriginalist theorists have failed to provide a sufficient functional justification for nonoriginalist intervention.

Although social legislation in the United States is always in the tradition of social reform rather than fundamental social change, the 1960s are considered a progressive period because of the union of government and societal obligations; class consciousness was aroused, and the redistribution of power and resources were salient issues. In Civil Rights and the Social Programs of the 1960s, Marcia Bok describes the background, analyzes the process of decision making, and traces the passage of selected landmark decisions of the 1960s. She tracks the changes that have occurred in this legislation in the last two decades, and discusses the current and possible future status of social policies and programs.

The legislation examined is chosen for its diversity and reflection of Great Society programs, and includes: The Civil Rights Act, 1964; The Community Mental Health Centers Act, 1963; The Economic Opportunity Act, 1964; Medicare and Medicaid, 1965; and Head Start, 1965. Bok considers the concepts of equality and social justice as the bases for the social legislation discussed, and includes analysis of historical, political, and legal aspects of the civil rights movement and concurrent events.