Constitutional Illusions and Anchoring Truths: The Touchstone of the Natural Law

This book stands against the current of judgments long settled in the schools of law in regard to classic cases such as Lochner v. New York, Near v. Minnesota, the Pentagon Papers case, and Bob Jones University v. United States. Professor Hadley Arkes takes as his subject concepts long regarded as familiar, settled principles in our law - 'prior restraints', ex post facto laws - and he shows that there is actually a mystery about them, that their meaning is not as settled or clear as we have long supposed. Arkes shows this in his text, arguing that the logic of the natural law provides the key to this chain of legal puzzles.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: the anchoring common sense and the puzzles of the law; 1. On the novelties of an old constitution: settled principles and unsettling surprises; 2. The natural law - again, ever; 3. Lochner and the cast of our law; 4. The strange case of prior restraint: the Pentagon Papers; 5. Near revisited; 6. The saga of Frank Snepp and the new regime of previous restraints; 7. And yet … a good word on behalf of the legal positivists; 8. Conclusion and afterword.

About the Author :
Hadley Arkes is Edward Ney Professor of American Institutions and Jurisprudence in the Department of Political Science at Amherst College. He is the author of six books, most notably First Things (1986), Beyond the Constitution (1990), and Natural Rights and the Right to Choose (Cambridge University Press, 2002). His articles have appeared in professional journals as well as the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, National Review, and First Things, a journal that took its name from his book of that title.

Review :
'Hadley Arkes has given us a work of brilliance in regards to both argument and style. Few constitutional theorists can be placed in the same class as [him]. This work demonstrates why [he], among that guild, remains unsurpassed. Those working in constitutional theory cannot preserve their intellectual integrity while ignoring his arguments … Arkes has within these pages given us a work of genius. This book belies an intellect of such range and depth that one is at once both awed and inspired. One's impression upon the completion of this work, as with all of Arkes's works, is that one has sat at the feet of one of the great intellects and teachers of our, or of any, time.' Paul R. DeHart, Texas State University, San Marcos 'The line between judicial interpretation and imposition is murky. Wherever it is drawn, reverence for our first principles - in both the political and judicial spheres - is imperative if we are to preserve the society the Framers sought to perpetuate. In that endeavor, Hadley Arkes remains a beacon in the dark night.' The New Criterion 'Hadley Arkes has given us a work of brilliance in regards to both argument and style. Few constitutional theorists can be placed in the same class as Arkes. This work demonstrates why Arkes, among that guild, remains unsurpassed. Those working in constitutional theory cannot preserve their intellectual integrity while ignoring his arguments.' Paul R. DeHart, Journal of Church and State '… a highly readable and highly recommended book that uses law to analyse the much larger issue of the way in which liberal societies are constructed and how, in order to maintain and honour that construction, we must not ignore the reality of the 'first principles' of natural law in favour of the illusory certainty of positivist constitutionalism.' Stephen Collins, The Kelvingrove Review