{"product_id":"the-original-meaning-of-the-fourteenth-amendment-its-letter-and-spirit-9780674257764","title":"The Original Meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment: Its Letter and Spirit","description":"\u003cp\u003eA renowned constitutional scholar and a rising star provide a balanced and definitive analysis of the origins and original meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment.  Adopted in 1868  the Fourteenth Amendment profoundly changed the Constitution  giving the federal judiciary and Congress new powers to protect the fundamental rights of individuals from being violated by the states. Yet  according to Randy Barnett and Evan Bernick  the Supreme Court has long misunderstood or ignored the original meaning of the amendments key clauses  covering the privileges and immunities of citizenship  due process of law  and the equal protection of the laws.  Barnett and Bernick contend that the Fourteenth Amendment was the culmination of decades of debates about the meaning of the antebellum Constitution. Antislavery advocates advanced arguments informed by natural rights  the Declaration of Independence  and the common law. They also utilized what is today called public-meaning originalism. Although their arguments lost in the courts  the Republican Party was formed to advance an antislavery political agenda  eventually bringing about abolition. Then  when abolition alone proved insufficient to thwart Southern repression and provide for civil equality  the Fourteenth Amendment was enacted. It went beyond abolition to enshrine in the Constitution the concept of Republican citizenship and granted Congress power to protect fundamental rights and ensure equality before the law. Finally  Congress used its powers to pass Reconstruction-era civil rights laws that tell us much about the original scope of the amendment.  With evenhanded attention to primary sources  The Original Meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment shows how the principles of the Declaration eventually came to modify the Constitution and proposes workable doctrines for implementing the key provisions of Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45651833421877,"sku":"ByrdShop_0674257766","price":77.76,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780674257764.jpg?v=1781841784","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-original-meaning-of-the-fourteenth-amendment-its-letter-and-spirit-9780674257764","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}