constitution

American's Unwritten Constitution

Joe Donahue — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:35:00 +0000

We speak with Akhil Reed Amar about his new book, America's Unwritten Constitution: The Precedents and Principles We Live By.

Paul Elisha: On the Tolerance for Difference

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 16:16:02 +0000

The currently dis-United States of ours has arrived at a trying juncture, in its turbulent tribulations, to determine the actual status of its democratic durability.

Stephen Gottlieb: Due process & targeted assassination

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 19:28:51 +0000

Tasked with helping draft a constitution for India after World War II, B. N. Rau traveled abroad speaking to jurists. In Washington, Supreme Court Justice Frankfurter advised Rau not to include a due process clause in the Indian Constitution. Instead India should have a clause simply requiring that no one be charged with a crime but by the law of the land. That was the meaning of the Magna Carta in 1215 which said:

No freemen shall be taken or imprisoned … or in any way destroyed … except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.