How to Read the Constitution: Originalism, Constitutional Interpretation, and Judicial Power

(Paperback)

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Prominent constitutional scholar Christopher Wolfe challenges popular opinions by presenting an insightful and well-supported defense of originalist interpretations of the Constitution. He describes the traditional approach to constitutional interpretation and judicial review and then focuses his analysis on the due process clause, which has become the source of most modern constitutional law. Wolfe challenges the most influential defenders of judicial activism, including Laurence Tribe, Michael Dorf, Harry Wellington, and Mark Tushnet, and he persuasively explains the dire political consequences of taking the Constitution out of constitutional law.

Reviews

How to Read the Constitution is the mature reflections of one of America's leading constitutional theorists and, in my view, the pre-eminent defender of an 'originalist' approach to constitutional review by courts. Wolfe is in full bloom. -- Gerard Bradley, University of Notre Dame
One of the best defenses of an approach to constitutional interpretation that has few academic defenders, it is clearly and fairly well written both in its own argument and in recording the arguments of others. * Choice Reviews *

Author Bio

Christopher Wolfe is professor of political science at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.