A "New York Times" book review Notable Book of the Year 1998
The Bill of Rights: The First Ten Amendments to the Constitution of
the United
States of America
Introduction: "Tell them stories about how our liberties were won
and what keeps
them alive."
1. Supreme Court Justice William 0. Douglas: "Bill's life, like his
law, was free."
2. Anthony Griffin: "If you take the First Amendment from the Klan,
we, as black folks,
will be the next to suffer."
3. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, Part I: "The censorial
power is in the people
over the Government, and not in the Government over the
people."
4. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, Part II: "Schools cannot
expect their students
to learn the lessons of good citizenship when the school
authorities themselves disregard
the fundamental principles underpinning our constitutional
freedoms."
5. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, Part III: "The evolving
standards of human
decency will eventually lead to the abolition of the death penalty
in this country."
6. Dr. Kenneth Clark, Part I: The Last of the
Integrationists?
7. Dr. Kenneth Clark, Part II: Simple Justice and How It Got Lost:
"I saw this white kid,
and he was saying, 'Look, this segregation is increasing
bigotry."'
8. Color Coding: She Had to Leave the Room Because the Class Was
Reserved for African
American Students
9. Individuals of Conscience Against the State.: "Those who won our
independence by
revolution were not cowards."
10. Banning the Bill of Rights and the Rest of the Constitution
from Our Prisons
11. Nowhere in the Constitution Is There a Mention of God: The
Continuing Battles for
Freedom of Religion and Freedom from Religion
12. Further Bold Adventures of Men and Women of
Conscience
13. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy: "The Constitution needs
renewal and
understanding each generation, or else it's not going to
last."
The Constitution of the United States of America
Acknowledgments
Index
Nat Hentoff is the author of many articles and books about jazz, politics, and education, including Free Speech for Me--But Not for Thee (1992). His syndicated column, "Sweet Land of Liberty," appears in the Washington Post and more than two hundred other newspapers, and he is a weekly contributor to the Village Voice. He lives in New York City.
"Hentoff has compiled a lively and timely guide to the U. S. Constitution in action."--"Publishers Weekly
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