Publications

At a time when much of the national debate regards the basic rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, it's vital to understand exactly what that means: what did the Framers know?

Lawyer and scholar Robert J. McWhirter's monumental history of the Bill of Rights traces the origins of the amendments over the span of nearly a thousand years, with many tangents into the history of literature, religion, film, sports and popular culture, and ensures that his fellow citizens will be well-armed to defend their rights.

A tour de force of legal scholarship, historical perspective, and cultural allusion, this book belongs on the bookshelf of every citizen, history buff, and lawyer.

552 pages available in hardcover. Published by the American Bar Association (ABA), August 2015

In 1776 America began with the words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” These words founded us on equality rather than ethnicity, liberty rather than race. In 1789, “all men are created equal” manifested itself in the Constitution and the words “We the People” were adopted.

But the framers of those words failed; they failed to live up to their own words and resolve the conflict between freedom and slavery. Some 70 years later in 1860 we turned on each other in Civil War over what “created equal” and “the People” meant. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments emerged from the carnage to fix the framers’ failure.

Each Amendment ends with, “Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” These Amendments set a new and ever higher threshold for individual liberty. But the choice between the two Americas remains as relevant today as ever. Will we be a “government by the people, of the people, and for the people” or not?

294 pages available in paperback. Published by Twelve Tables Press, September 2022

The US Constitution outlines generally the requirements for citizenship. Court cases and statutes over the years have interpreted different sections of the citizenship requirements in different ways, but the issue has always remained a federal one.

This flow chart follows the complicated web of decisions, statues, and Constitutional provisions created over the years. The accompanying book describes in more detail the processes and requirements in understandable and digestible terms.

63 pages available in softcover with accompanying chart. Published by the American Bar Association (ABA), 2007