|
|
|
Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment
More than any other people on earth, Americans are free to say and write what they think. The media can air the secrets of the White House, the boardroom, or the bedroom with little fear of punishment or penalty The reason for this extraordinary freedom is not a superior culture of tolerance, but just fourteen words in our most fundamental legal document: the free expression clauses of the First Amendment to the Constitution. In Lewis’s telling, the story of how the right of free expression evolved along with our nation makes a compelling case for the adaptability of our constitution. Although Americans have gleefully and sometimes outrageously exercised their right to free speech since before the nation’s founding, the Supreme Court did not begin to recognize this right until 1919. Freedom of speech and the press as we know it today is surprisingly recent. Anthony Lewis tells us how these rights were created, revealing a story of hard choices, heroic (and some less heroic) judges, and fascinating and eccentric defendants who forced the legal system to come face-to-face with one of America’s great founding ideas. .
Price: $10.95
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication with PowerWeb
Mining an intense commitment and driving vision to reach today's students, combined with teaching experience of nearly 50 years, the authors of this new text offer an exciting alternative in the field of mass media law. Highly praised by reviewers, the book's dynamic visual design and innovative pedagogy engage contemporary students--complementing the comprehensive coverage and organization seen in traditional texts. The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication features a wealth of new elements and strategies that encourage students to read the text closely and aid in critical evaluation of the complex and shifting field of media law..
Price: $80.50
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
The Devil in Dover: An Insider's Story of Dogma v. Darwin in Small-town America
The page-turning story behind the 2005 intelligent design case in Dover, Pennsylvania—the case that made front-page news around the world."What happened in Dover is a tiny sliver, a broken shard of glass mirroring what plays out across the country A war of fundamentalist Christian values versus secularism. A battle between evangelical fanaticism and tolerance."—from The Devil in DoverIn December 2004, following the Dover area school board's decision to teach intelligent design in ninth-grade biology classrooms, eleven parents sued, sparking a federal constitutional challenge. Lauri Lebo, a small-town reporter who covered the trial, knows not just the legal case and science, but the people on all sides of the divisive battle. In The Devil in Dover, Lebo traces the compelling backstory of this pivotal case described by some as a perfect storm of religious intolerance, First Amendment violations, and an assault on American science education. In a community divided across unexpected lines, the so-called activist judge, a George Bush-appointed Republican, eventually condemned the school board's decision as one of "breathtaking inanity." Lebo follows the story through its surprising twists, pondering whether this was a national war playing out in a small town or a small-town political battle playing out on the national stage. As a "local girl" with a fundamentalist Christian father, Lebo provides an account that is both fascinating and moving, as she thoughtfully probes one of America's most divisive cultural conflicts—and the responsibility journalists have when covering such a controversial story..
Price: $12.47
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms
Stephen Halbrook's The Founders' Second Amendment is the first book-length account of the origins of the Second Amendment, based on the Founders' own statements as found in newspapers, correspondence, debates, and resolutions Mr. Halbrook investigates the period from 1768 to 1826, from the last years of British rule and the American Revolution through to the adoption of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and the passing of the Founders' generation. His book offers the most comprehensive analysis of the arguments behind the drafting and adoption of the Second Amendment, and the intentions of the men who created it. With the question of the right to bear arms scheduled to come before the Supreme Court in the spring of 2008, The Founders' Second Amendment could scarcely be more timely..
Price: $14.47
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun-Control Laws
Multiple regression analyses are rarely the subject of heated public debate or 225-page books for laypeople But John R. Lott, Jr.'s study in the January 1997 Journal of Legal Studies showing that concealed-carry weapons permits reduced the crime rate set off a firestorm. The updated study, together with illustrative anecdotes and a short description of the political and academic response to the study, as well as responses to the responses, makes up Lott's informative More Guns, Less Crime. In retrospect, it perhaps should not have been surprising that increasing the number of civilians with guns would reduce crime rates. The possibility of armed victims reduces the expected benefits and increases the expected costs of criminal activity. And, at the margin at least, people respond to changes in costs, even for crime, as Nobel-Prize winning economist [TAG]Gary Becker showed long ago. Allusions to the preferences of criminals for unarmed victims have seeped into popular culture; Ringo, a British thug in Pulp Fiction, noted off-handedly why he avoided certain targets: "Bars, liquor stores, gas stations, you get your head blown off stickin' up one of them." But Lott's actual quantification of this, in the largest and most comprehensive study of the effects of gun control to date, a study well-detailed in the book, provoked a number of attacks, ranging from the amateurish to the subtly misleading, desperate to discredit him. Lott takes the time to refute each argument; it's almost touching the way he footnotes each time he telephones an attacker who eventually hangs up on him without substantiating any of their claims. Lott loses a little focus when he leaves his firm quantitative base; as an economist, he should know that the low number of rejected background checks under the Brady Bill doesn't demonstrate anything by itself, because some people may have been deterred from even undergoing the background check in the first place, but he attacks the bill on this ground anyway. But the conclusions that are backed by evidence--that concealed-weapons permits reduce crime, and do so at a lower cost to society than increasing the number of police or prisons--are important ones that should be considered by policymakers. --Ted Frank.
Price: $8.48
[Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
Freedom Of Speech In The United States
Freedom of speech, historically one of our most cherished rights, faces new challenges today. From the Internet and V-chips to campaign finance reform and the Patriot Act, new technology and social issues raise difficult First Amendment issues. This award-winning text offers a clear, thorough, and fascinating introduction to the complex history and current interpretations of our free speech principles. Beginning with the roots of Western free speech concepts in classical Greek thought and British common law, it traces the development of contemporary freedoms and controls from colonial times to the present, through significant legislation and Supreme Court cases. It explores issues arising from sedition, blasphemy, obscenity, political protest, commercial advertising, the right of the press to report news and express opinion, Internet access and filters, and other controversial issues. Important reading for students of the First Amendment, Freedom of Speech in the United States guides readers to an understanding of complex concepts with clear explanations, brief abstracts of major court cases, and numerous study aids. Thoroughly updated, the fifth edition shows how historical challenges to freedom of speech arise anew with the emergence of new technologies, political issues, and social concerns. FEATURES Clear, engaging writing provides an excellent introduction for readers with no legal background. Unique historical perspective shows evolution of current freedoms and limitations. Boxed summaries of major cases describe facts of each case, the decision, and its importance. Succinct explanations of major theorists (Chapter 15) show key perspectives. Abundant internal summaries and study aids guide student reading. 30 historical and contemporary illustrations bring history alive. FEATURES OF THE NEW EDITION Reflects current case law and decisions, including decisions from the 2004 Supreme Court session. Reflects current issues such as the USA Patriot Act, cyberporn, campaign finance reform, abortion clinic protests, others. New section on "Reasons for Free Speech" (Chapter 15)..
Price: $85.83
[Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
Make No Law: The Sullivan Case and the First Amendment
The First Amendment puts it this way: "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press." Yet, in 1960, a city official in Montgomery, Alabama, sued The New York Times for libel -- and was awarded $500,000 by a local jury -- because the paper had published an ad critical of Montgomery's brutal response to civil rights protests. The centuries of legal precedent behind the Sullivan case and the U.S. Supreme Court's historic reversal of the original verdict are expertly chronicled in this gripping and wonderfully readable book by the Pulitzer Prize -- winning legal journalist Anthony Lewis. It is our best account yet of a case that redefined what newspapers -- and ordinary citizens -- can print or say..
Price: $6.47
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
A More Perfect Constitution: 23 Proposals to Revitalize Our Constitution and Make America a Fairer Country
“A constitution intended to endure for years to come [is] consequently to be adapted to the various crises of human affairs.”— John Marshall
“This book will ask readers to set aside their own political loyalties, to look past the current ‘values’ debates and hot-button issues, to consider this very real possibility: that the failure of the nation to update the Constitution and the structure of government it originally bequeathed to us is at the root of our current political dysfunction.”—Larry Sabato
The political book of the year, from the acclaimed founder and director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Larry Sabato has one of the most visionary and fertile political minds in America. Like so many, he is increasingly alarmed at the growing dysfunction and unfairness of our political system. To solve this, to restore the equity for ordinary citizens that is at the core of our democratic society, we must take a radical step—to revise the Constitution, the document that guides our political process, for until some of its outmoded provisions are reformed, we will only have more of the same.
The original framers fully expected the Constitution to be regularly revised by succeeding generations to reflect the country’s changing needs; yet, apart from the ten amendments in the Bill of Rights, it has only been amended 17 times in 220 years, and most of those amendments had minor ramifications. Today, partisan gridlock dominates Washington; 17 percent of voters elect a majority of senators; the presidency has assumed unprecedented and unintended powers; while politicians spend as much time campaigning for office as they do governing; and average Americans feel more and more disconnected from the political process so that half or more don’t vote in many elections—all of which would have horrified Jefferson and Madison.
A More Perfect Constitution presents twenty three creative and dynamic proposals to reinvigorate American governance at a time when such change is urgently needed. Combining idealism and pragmatism, and with full respect for the original document, Sabato's thought-provoking ideas range from the length of the president’s term in office and the number and terms of Supreme Court justices to the structure of Congress, the vagaries of the antiquated Electoral College, and a compelling call for universal national service—all laced through with the history behind each issue and their potential impact on the lives of ordinary people.
Aware that such changes won’t happen easily, Sabato urges us nonetheless to engage in the debate and discussion they will surely engender. As we head towards a presidential election year, no book is more relevant or significant than his. .
Price: $11.95
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
|
|
|