Reconstruction or Reaffirmation? Review of the Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction

36 Pages Posted: 6 Aug 2005

Abstract

This article reviews Akhil Amar's book, The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction. It analyzes Amar's interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment, its relationship to the guarantees found in the first ten amendments and his conception of the nature of those constitutional guarantees. The review concludes that Amar fails to explore the structural aspects of the reconstruction amendments and the intended relationship between the federal and state governments after their enactment. The historical record demonstrates that the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment intended to allow the states to remain free to regulate the mode or manner in which fundamental rights were exercised, thereby preserving important structural aspects of the original constitution.

Keywords: Akhil Amar, federalism, fourteenth amendment, bill of rights

Suggested Citation

Smith, Douglas Geoffrey, Reconstruction or Reaffirmation? Review of the Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction. George Mason Law Review, Vol. 8, No. 1, p. 167, Fall 1999, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=770544

Douglas Geoffrey Smith (Contact Author)

affiliation not provided to SSRN

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