Reflections on Constitutional Law

George Anastaplo

Aug 2006 · University Press of Kentucky

About this ebook

Constitutional scholar George Anastaplo believes that many judges and lawyers draw upon a skimpy, if not simply unreliable, knowledge of history. He proposes that in order to write reliable opinions, these men and women must have a deeper understanding of the enduring principles upon which the law naturally tends to draw. In the study of constitutional law, Anastaplo argues that it is more important to weigh what the Supreme Court has said and how that is saidÑwhat considerations it weighed and howÑthan it is to know what it is recorded that the Court Òdecided.Ó In Reflections on Constitutional Law, Anastaplo makes the case for a renewed focus on a now often-overlooked aspect of the study of law. He emphasizes the continuing significance and importance of the Constitution by thoroughly examining the most important influences on the American constitutional system, including the Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence.

About the author

George Anastaplo, professor of law at Loyola University in Chicago and lecturer in the liberal arts at the University of Chicago, is the author of numerous books, including Reflections on Constitutional Law and The Constitutionalist.