The Embattled Constitution

“An indispensable and provocative guide through the thicket of today’s most challenging constitutional controversies by some of the most eminent judges of their time. It offers an invaluable peek behind the curtain of judicial decision making.”

―David Cole, Professor of Law, Georgetown University

The Embattled
Constitution presents the
fourth collection of the James Madison lectures delivered at the NYU School of
Law, offering thoughtful examinations of an array of topics on civil liberties
by a distinguished group of federal judges, including Justice Stephen Breyer of
the U.S. Supreme Court. The result is a fascinating look into the minds of the
judges who interpret, apply, and give meaning to our “embattled Constitution.”

In these insightful
and incisive essays, the authors bring to bear decades of experience to explore
wide-ranging issues. Are today’s public schools racially segregated? To what
extent can the federal courts apply the Bill of Rights without legislative
guidance? And what are the criteria for the highest standards of judging and constitutional
interpretation? The authors also discuss how and why the Constitution came to
be embattled, shining a spotlight on the current polarization in both the
Supreme Court and the American body politic and offering careful and informed
analysis of how to bridge these divides.

Contributors include
Marsha S. Berzon, Michael Boudin, Stephen Breyer, Guido Calabresi, Robert H.
Henry, Robert Katzmann, Pierre N. Leval, M. Blane Michael, Davis S. Tatel, J.
Harvie Wilkinson, III, and Diane P. Wood.