The Contemporary Constitution: Modern Interpretations

This book continues the author's discussion of the United States Constitution as an unfolding "work in progress." The Constitution was written and ratified more than 200 years ago, but it continues to guide the operations of our political system to this day. The Constitution remains viable because so many of its provisions are open-ended and flexible. Constitutional provisions prohibiting "unreasonable" searches and seizures, guaranteeing "speedy trials" before "impartial juries" and protecting against "cruel and unusual punishments" are just a few examples. Such provisions must be interpreted and applied to modern circumstances. In this way, the Constitution remains a living, evolving, contemporary document. This theme ran through the author's previous two books with Krieger. The first The Constitution: Our Written Legacy was written while the Nation celebrated the 1989 bicentennial of the ratification of the United States Constitution. The second The Bill of Rights: Our Written Legacy was written while we commemorated the 1991 bicentennial of the ratification of the Bill of Rights. But the story of the Constitution is a continuing one and this book focuses on developments since 1991.