Constitutional Stupidities, Constitutional Tragedies

Marc Notes: Papers presented at a conference sponsored by Tulane University's Murphy Institute on March 1994 and at a follow-up symposium at the Law and Interpretation Section of the American Association of Law Schools.; Includes bibliographical references and index. Biographical Note: William N. Eskridge, Jr., is Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center and the author, most recently, of "The Case for Same-Sex Marriage: From Sexual Liberty to Civilized Commitment."Publisher Marketing: The Constitution is the cornerstone of American government, hailed as one of the greatest contributions of the Western Enlightenment. While many seem content simply to celebrate it, those most familiar with the document invariably find it wanting in at least some aspects. This unique volume brings together many of the country's most esteemed constitutional commentators and invites them to answer two questions: First, what is the stupidest provision of the Constitution? "Stupid" need not mean evil. Thus, a second, related question is whether the scholar-interpreter would be forced to reach truly evil results even if applying his or her own favored theory of constitutional interpretation. The contributors include Lawrence Alexander, Akhil Reed Amar, Jack Balkin, Philip Bobbitt, Gerard Bradley, Rebecca Brown, Steven Calabresi, Lief Carter, Christopher Eisgruber, Lawrence Sager, Marie Failinger, Daniel Farber, James Fleming, Mark Graber, Stephen Griffin, Gary Jacobsohn, Randall Kennedy, Lewis LaRue, Theodore Lowi, Earl Maltz, Michael McConnell, Matthew Michael, Robert Nagel, Daniel Ortiz, Pamela Karlen, Michael Paulsen, Robert Post, Lucas Powe, Dorothy Roberts, Jeffrey Rosen, Frederick Schauer, Michael Seidman, Suzanna Sherry, David Strauss, Laurence Tribe, Mark Tushnet, and John Yoo. Contributor Bio:  Hall, Peter Peter Dobkin Hall has been a Research Associate at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Yale University and has taught at Wesleyan University. He is currently at work on a history of American culture in the twentieth century. Contributor Bio:  Eskridge, William N, Jr. William N. Eskridge, Jr., is Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center and the author, most recently, of "The Case for Same-Sex Marriage: From Sexual Liberty to Civilized Commitment". Contributor Bio:  Levinson, Sanford Sanford Levinson is W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Regents Chair in Law and Professor of Government at the University of Texas, Austin. He is the author or co-author of many books, including Framed: America's 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance and Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (And How We the People Can Correct It).