Driven by the growing reality of international terrorism, the threats to civil liberties and individual rights in America are greater today than at any time since the McCarthy era in the 1950s. At this critical time when individual freedoms are being weighed against the need for increased security, this exhaustive three-volume set provides the most detailed coverage of contemporary and historical issues relating to basic rights covered in the United States Constitution. The Encyclopedia of Civil Liberties in America examines the history and hotly contested debates surrounding the concept and practice of civil liberties. It provides detailed history of court cases, events, Constitutional amendments and rights, personalities, and themes that have had an impact on our freedoms in America. The Encyclopedia appraises the state of civil liberties in America today, and examines growing concerns over the limiting of personal freedoms for the common good. Complete with selected relevant documents and a chronology of civil liberties developments, and arranged in A-Z format with multiple indexes for quick reference, The Encyclopedia of Civil Liberties in America includes in-depth coverage of: freedom of speech, religion, press, and assembly, as outlined in the first amendment; protection against unreasonable search and seizure, as outlined in the fourth amendment; criminal due process rights, as outlined in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth amendments; property rights, economic liberties, and other rights found within the text of the United States Constitution; Supreme Court justices, presidents, and other personalities, focusing specifically on their contributions to or effect on civil liberties; concepts, themes, and events related to civil liberties, both practical and theoretical; court cases and their impact on civil liberties.

Written by a leading scholar of the constitutional amending process, this two-volume encyclopedia, now in its fifth edition, is an indispensable resource for students, legal historians, and high school and college librarians. Although only 27 amendments have been adopted to the U.S. Constitution, members of Congress have introduced more than 12,000 proposed amendments to America's founding legal document. Now in its fifth edition, this two-volume encyclopedia, written by Dr. John R. Vile, a leading authority on the constitutional amending process, offers a history and analysis of these proposed amendments and the 27 that have been ratified to date. Readers will find entries on the relevant court decisions important to amendments, the influential persons connected to amendments proposed and ratified, and both the resolved and unresolved legal issues surrounding the constitutional amending process. Included as well is an invaluable and exhaustively compiled bibliography of the books, articles, and other media related to constitutional amendments and the amending process. A staple since its original publication in 1996, this book is an invaluable resource for scholars of constitutional law, legal historians, and high school and college librarians. Provides a comprehensive history of ratified constitutional amendments and the more than 12,000 proposed amendments to the U.S. Constitution Provides a comprehensive overview of the legal cases and legal issues related to proposed constitutional amendments Features an up-to-date bibliography of the articles, books, and other media related to ratified and proposed constitutional amendments Includes an exhaustively researched list of relevant persons associated with the constitutional amending process

Covering the key concepts, events, laws and legal doctrines, court decisions, and litigators and litigants, this new reference on the law of search and seizure-in the physical as well as the online world-provides a unique overview for individuals seeking to understand the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. More than 900 A to Z entries cover the key issues that surround this essential component of the Bill of Rights and the linchpin of a right to privacy. This two-volume reference-from the editors of CQ Press's award-winning Encyclopedia of the First Amendment-features a series of essays that examine the historical background of the Fourth Amendment along with its key facets relating to: Technology Privacy Terrorism Warrant requirement Congress States A to Z entries include cross-references and bibliographic entries. This work also features both alphabetical and topical tables of contents as well as a comprehensive subject index and a case index.At a time when threats of crime and terrorism have resulted in increased governmental surveillance into personal lives, this work will serve as an important asset for researchers seeking information on the history and relevance of legal rights against such intrusions. Key Features: More than 900 signed entries, including 600 court cases and 100 biographies Preface by noted journalist Nat Hentoff From the editors of CQ Press's award-winning Encyclopedia of the First Amendment

Recognition of the U.S. Constitution's importance increased dramatically in 1826 due to the deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the election of President Andrew Jackson and the jubilee celebration of the Declaration of Independence. At this time, a period when public schools were increasing in number, educators responded with coursework that promoted the virtues of the Constitution to the nation's youth. Arthur J. Stansbury, a Presbyterian minister known for his political speeches, wrote one of the most popular textbooks used in the schools. Cast in the form of questions and answers in a chronological explanation of the Constitution, his "catechism" endowed patriotism with moral virtues in his depiction of the nation's "highly favored" birth-right. "It is a tribute to Stansbury, and to the document that he explicated, that so many subsequent scholars have followed the pedagogical path that he blazed." --JOHN R. VILE, XIX-XX ARTHUR J. STANSBURY 1781-1865], a New York Presbyterian minister, often preached on political topics and was known for the patriotic fervor to his addresses. His other publications were addresses and sermons, reports of debates in Congress and trial records of judges and clergymen. He also illustrated children's books, including The Children's Friend (1821), a book about Christmas that included an early depiction of Santa Claus.

HOW TO DRAFT A CONSTITUTION This treatise served as a practical guidebook for states seeking to institute constitutional conventions, and it remains relevant today. Based on a study on 192 American constitutional conventions, Jameson analyzes the nature and sources of constitutions and shows how they are produced. Some arise from a "spontaneous convention." Others are the result of a "legislative convention," "revolutionary convention" or "constitutional convention." "Jameson's work remains a legal landmark, notably not simply as the first treatise in this area but also for its continuing insights into issues of constitutional change at both the state and national levels. Although it no longer occupies the field it once did, Jameson's treatise remains the single most comprehensive work on the subject and a fertile source of insights and ideas." --John R. Vile, V-VI JOHN ALEXANDER JAMESON (1824-1890) attended Harvard Law School in 1852. He served as a Judge of the Superior Court of Chicago from 1865-1883, during which time he issued over 100 opinions, some of which were regarded as landmarks of family law and church governance. Jameson was one of the founders of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. An abolitionist, he was a founder of the Republican Party.

Few events in the history of the United States were of greater consequence than the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Although most histories have focused on the issues and compromises that dominated the debates, the exchanges were also shaped by the dynamic personalities of the fifty-five delegates who attended from twelve of the thirteen states. In The Men Who Made the Constitution, constitutional scholar John R. Vile explores the lives and contributions of all delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, including those who left before the Convention ended and those who stayed until the last day but refused to sign. Each biography records the delegate's birth, education, previous positions or public service roles, homes, family life, life after the Convention, death, and resting place. Drawing directly from Convention debates and a vast array of secondary sources, Vile covers the positions of each delegate at the Convention on both major and minor issues and describes his service on committees and afterward at state ratification conventions. The Men Who Made the Constitution includes a bibliography of key sources, engravings of delegates for whom portraits were created, a quiz on key facts, and a transcript of the Constitution of the United States. This work is the perfect reference for students and scholars, as well as professional and amateur historians, of colonial and early American history, constitutional law, and American jurisprudence.

Gathered Together for the First Time. Proposed Amendments to the U.S. Constitution 1787-2001: Volume IV. Supplement 2001-2010. Clark: The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2011. xii, 13]-81 pp. Hardcover.
Volume IV Supplement 2001-2010 contains: proposed amendments to the Constitution of the United States; second half of 107th Congresses (2001-2002); 108th Congress (2003-2004); 109th Congress (2005-2006), 110th Congress (2007-2008); 111th Congress (2009-2010).
Dr. John R. Vile (Ph.D., University of Virginia) is a Professor of Political Science and Dean of the University Honors College at Middle Tennessee State University. Vile has written and edited six previous books on the constitutional amending process including the award-winning Encyclopedia of Constitutional Amendments, Proposed Amendments, and Amending Issues: 1789-2010, now in its third edition. Vile is also the author of Presidential Winners and Losers: Words of Victory and Concession (2002), The Constitutional Convention of 1787: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of America's Founding (2005), A Companion to the United States Constitution and Its Amendments, 5th ed. (2010), and Essential Supreme Court Decisions: Summaries of Leading Cases in U.S. Constitutional Law, 15th ed. (2010). He is the editor of Great American Lawyers: An Encyclopedia (2001), Great American Judges: An Encyclopedia (2003), and a CD-ROM entitled The History of the American Legal System (1999). He is a coeditor of The Encyclopedia of Civil Liberties in America (2005), the Encyclopedia of the First Amendment (2009), James Madison: Philosopher, Founder, and Statesman (2008), and of Constitutional Law in Contemporary America (2011). In addition to writing numerous articles and reviews, Vile has authored the introduction for the Lawbook Exchange's 2008 reprint of Noah Webster's Sketches of American Policy.

Presidential scholar John Vile brings together a rich collection of speeches, statements, and related information that focus on a subject largely neglected by presidential studies: How successful and unsuccessful candidates for the highest office in the land deal with the outcome of the election. Every four years Americans select one person to occupy the White House for four years. One or more others must deal with their defeat, in public statements and private thoughts. In modern times, victory and concession speeches are an expected part of the election pageant, routinely delivered instantly to the nation's voters on television. It was not always so. Formal concession statements in telegrams and speeches did not emerge until the late 19th century. Even victory speeches developed slowly to their modern form. Vile has collected more than 500 speeches and other documents, from George Washington to George W. Bush, that relate to the outcome of elections. Many are actual candidate statements or speeches, while others are private letters, diary entries, interviews, and newspaper and journal articles. Vile shows how, collectively, they create a window to the thoughts of presidential candidates once the voters have made their choice. Although every other kind of presidential statement has been collected and studied, never before has a scholar brought together in one place material about victory and concessions following races for the White House. Vile treats all presidential elections separately, each with commentary setting the context for the speeches and other material he presents for the victor and the vanquished. He begins the volume with a brilliant analytical essay that shows how victory and concession speeches developed and evolved, and how the study of them helps us understand the American political system. In it he draws parallels between concession and victory speeches and other types of presidential rhetoric, and illustrates how the words and tone of statements serve to heal the wounds of elections campaigns, to set the agenda for an administration, and to rally the partisans of both the winner and loser. In addition, the volume includes a lengthy bibliography, an appendix elections chart to help track election years, candidates, states, and parties and a complete index.

This A-Z encyclopedia will survey the history, meaning, and enduring impact of the Liberty Bell in American culture. This title provides a one-stop resource for understanding the fascinating history and enduring importance of the Liberty Bell in the fabric of American culture, from the pre–Revolutionary War era to the present day. The encyclopedia explains key concepts, principles, and intellectual influences in the creation and display of the Liberty Bell; profiles its creators and leading champions; and surveys the place of the Bell and its home in Philadelphia's Independence Hall within the political and cultural lexicon of the nation. Additionally, it discusses important milestones and events in the bell's history and provides a sweeping overview of depictions of the Liberty Bell in historical and modern art, music, literature, and other cultural areas. It thus not only serves as a valuable resource in helping readers separate fact from myth regarding one of our nation's most potent national symbols but also provides a unique gateway for exploring the wider history of the United States.

"Tennessee Government and Politics" offers a timely and comprehensive new survey of the state's political evolution. With its concise historical analysis, up-to-date presentation of contemporary issues, and appended state constitution, "Tennessee Government and Politics" will serve as a primary text for any course on Tennessee government and as a supplemental text for broader courses in state and local government or southern politics.

"Tennessee Government and Politics" offers a timely and comprehensive new survey of the state's political evolution. With its concise historical analysis, up-to-date presentation of contemporary issues, and appended state constitution, "Tennessee Government and Politics" will serve as a primary text for any course on Tennessee government and as a supplemental text for broader courses in state and local government or southern politics.

The only reference guide to Supreme Court cases organized both topically and chronologically within chapters so that readers understand how cases fit into a historical context, the 18th edition has been updated with 20 new cases, including landmark decisions on such topics as campaign finance, Obamacare, gay marriage, the First Amendment, search and seizure, among others. Updated through the end of the 2021 Supreme Court session, this book remains and indispensable resource for undergraduate and law school students, lawyers, and everyone interested in our nation's laws and Constitution.

The only reference guide to Supreme Court cases organized both topically and chronologically within chapters so that readers understand how cases fit into a historical context, the 18th edition has been updated with 20 new cases, including landmark decisions on such topics as campaign finance, Obamacare, gay marriage, the First Amendment, search and seizure, among others. Updated through the end of the 2021 Supreme Court session, this book remains and indispensable resource for undergraduate and law school students, lawyers, and everyone interested in our nation's laws and Constitution.

While scholars increasingly recognize the importance of religion throughout American history, The Bible in American Law and Politics is the first reference book to focus on the key role that the Bible has played in American public life. In considering revolting from Great Britain, Americans contemplated whether this was consistent with scripture. Americans subsequently sought to apply Biblical passages to such issues as slavery, women's rights, national alcoholic prohibition, issues of war and peace, and the like. American presidents continue to take their oath on the Bible. Some of America's greatest speeches, for example, Lincoln's Second Inaugural and William Jennings Bryan's Cross of Gold speech, have been grounded on Biblical texts or analogies. Today, Americans continue to cite the Bible for positions as diverse as LGBTQ rights, abortion, immigration, welfare, health care, and other contemporary issues. By providing essays on key speeches, books, documents, legal decisions, and other writings throughout American history that have sought to buttress arguments through citations to Scriptures or to Biblical figures, John Vile provides an indispensable guide for scholars and students in religion, American history, law, and political science to understand how Americans throughout its history have interpreted and applied the Bible to legal and political issues.

Article V of the Constitution allows two-thirds majorities of both houses of Congress to propose amendments to the document and a three-fourths majority of the states to ratify them. Scholars and frustrated advocates of constitutional change have often criticized this process for being too difficult. Despite this, state legislatures have yet to use the other primary method that Article V outlines for proposing amendments: it permits two-thirds of the state legislatures to petition Congress to call a convention to propose amendments that, like those proposed by Congress, must be ratified by three-fourths of the states. In this book, John R. Vile surveys more than two centuries of scholarship on Article V and concludes that the weight of the evidence (including a much-overlooked Federalist essay) indicates that states and Congress have the legal right to limit the scope of such conventions to a single subject and that political considerations would make a runaway convention unlikely. Charting a prudent course between those who fail to differentiate revolutionary change from constitutional change, those who fear ever using the Article V convention mechanism that the Framers clearly envisioned, and those who would vest total control of the convention in Congress, the states, or the convention itself, Vile's work will enhance modern debates on the subject.

This A-to-Z encyclopedia surveys the history, meaning, and enduring impact of the Declaration of Independence by explaining its contents and concepts, profiling the Founding Fathers, and detailing depictions of the Declaration in art, music, and literature. A comprehensive resource for understanding all aspects of the Declaration of Independence, which marked the formal beginning of the colonies' march toward the creation of the United States of America, this encyclopedia contains more than 200 entries examining various facets of the Declaration of Independence and its enduring impact on American law, politics, and culture. It details key concepts, principles, and intellectual influences that informed the creation of the document, reviews charges leveled in the Declaration against the British crown, summarizes the events of the first and second Continental Congresses, profiles influential architects and signers of the Declaration, discusses existing copies of the Declaration, explains the document's influence on other governments/nations, covers historic sites related to the document, and discusses depictions of the document and its architects in American art, music, and literature over time.

This engaging and accessible new Constitutional Law title covers contemporary topics and feature meticulously edited cases that include all the major Supreme Court opinions that should be in a text, as determined by political scientists who teach in the field. Cases aren't boiled down to capsule summaries. Instead, the case content is presented in such a way as to allow students to dig deeply into the case meaning, while timelines put the cases into historical context. Additionally, there is comprehensive cross referencing of other important cases, case commentary, and analysis. This is the only constitutional law book on the market that has a chapter on election law, and also contains significant chapters on the Constitution and foreign policy, and property rights. The opening chapter covers the elements of judicial review and how courts operate. Other features include: A companion website with helpful instructor materials, including test banks, essay questions and examples. Priced significantly lower than other constitutional law books on the market.

The only reference guide to Supreme Court cases organized both topically and chronologically within chapters so that readers understand how cases fit into a historical context, the 17th edition has been updated with 20 new cases, including landmark decisions on such topics as campaign finance, Obamacare, gay marriage, the First Amendment, search and seizure, among others. Updated through the end of the 2017 Supreme Court session, this book remains an indispensable resource for undergraduate and law school students, lawyers, and everyone interested in our nation's laws and Constitution.

The carefully selected and edited readings in this book are chronologically arranged so that students can trace the progression of events and understand the thoughts of those living during the critical Civil War and Reconstruction periods. Both the Civil War and Reconstruction were pivotal moments in American history that have shaped race relations, perceptions of national power, and the relations between the national government and the states. Powerful political figures, who were often guided by lofty motives, found themselves caught up in circumstances that were largely beyond their direct control. Issues often proved far more complex than anticipated, and many initial "solutions" that were set in motion more than 130 years ago continue to affect current U.S. politics. This book provides American history students and teachers with a handy reference that examines all important aspects of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. The author models how an expert scholar interacts with primary sources, thereby providing guidance that shows readers how to pick apart and critically evaluate firsthand the key documents chronicling these major events in American history. The deftly edited readings in this book are presented in chronological order so that students can trace the progression of events and thinking of various individuals during the critical Civil War and Reconstruction periods. Annotations explain key terms and highlight key portions of laws, presidential speeches and orders, Supreme Court decisions, and other sources from the period.

One of the most contentious issues in America today is the status of immigration. American Immigration and Citizenship shows that this issue is far from new. In this book, John Vile provides context for contemporary debates on the topic through key historical documents presented alongside essays that interpret their importance for the reader. The author concludes that a highly-interconnected world presents no easy answers and offers no single immigration policy that will work for all time. The book includes a mix of laws, constitutional provisions, speeches, and judicial decisions from each period. Vile furthermore traces the interconnections between issues of citizenship and issues of immigration, indicating that public opinion and legislation has often contained contradictory strains. Although the primary focus has been on national laws and decisions, some of the readings clearly indicate the stakes that states, which are often affected disproportionately by such laws, have also had in this process.