Bøger af David Benner

Americans often describe their rights in terms of numbers derived from amendments in the federal Bill of Rights, an unambiguous set of limitations on government. Despite this tendency, most do not realize that such amendments were never designed to inhibit local authorities. Nevertheless, during the Progressive Era the federal courts began to claim that the 14th Amendment had "incorporated" federal Bill of Rights restrictions against the state governments. Ever since, this outlook has provided the basis upon which the federal judiciary overturns state laws deemed to be unsavory. As David Benner reveals in The 14th Amendment and the Incorporation Doctrine, no such function was originally envisioned by the amendment. Demonstrating the subject's far-reaching ramifications, he illustrates how the embrace of incorporation has severely eroded the Constitution's original intent. Without constitutional sanction, this fallacious doctrine has given the federal courts an excuse to meddle with the internal affairs of the states. Virtually ignored in modern legal studies, the incorporation doctrine is now considered a settled matter of American jurisprudence. Despite the lack of attention to the topic, Benner argues that there is no legal precept that has done more to transform the power of the federal judiciary into a superlative force.

The United States Constitution was a concerted response to an age of tyrannical kings and highly centralized government. As history reveals, such political authority had to be challenged directly - by local units and causes - to preserve liberty and ensure public happiness. Compact of the Republic demonstrates that the Constitution did not impose a nationalist, superlative central government, and was not ratified by "one American people" in the aggregate. Instead, the document was the product of a multi-party arrangement, where the states remained the masters of their own creation and the pillars of the federal system. In Compact of the Republic, historian David Benner: *Reveals that representatives were assured that delegated power could be reclaimed by the states following acts of federal overreach and usurpation *Explains the historical foundation behind the Bill of Rights, and traces the limitations on government to the actions of malevolent kings *Proves the Constitution acknowledges the states in the plural, as a collection of sovereign societies with varied interests *Demonstrates that the "elastic clauses" were clearly explained during the ratification campaign, and leave no room for modern reinterpretation *Describes how the federal judiciary now overturns state laws it has no jurisdiction over, to the contrary of its original scope of power *Explains why Thomas Jefferson and James Madison believed that unconstitutional federal laws had to be opposed, nullified, and obstructed by the states *Illustrates that ratification was secured only by convincing opponents of the Constitution that the document would produce a nominal general government with limited, enumerated powers