This book explains a paradox in American constitutional law: how a right
not discussed during the ratification debates at Philadelphia and not
mentioned in the text has become a core component of modern freedom.
Rather, privacy is a constitutional afterthought that has gained force
through modern interpretations of an old text. Heffernan defends privacy
rights against originalist objections to its inclusion in modern
constitutional doctrine, analyzes the structure of privacy claims, and
provides a blueprint for protecting privacy against government
incursion.
The book will appeal to a wide audience of students and researchers of
criminal procedure, constitutional history, law-and-society, and
sociology of law. Lawyers will find this book extremely valuable in
addressing the statutory issues associated with modern privacy law.
At last, a book about constitutional interpretation that speaks plain
English and makes sense. It's the best work I know on the subject, yet
that subject is not the one it's mostly about. The book mostly tells the
story of the constitutional right to privacy and how it emerged from
provisions that at the outset were not much about privacy at all. On
that subject, the book is definitive. It's also fascinating, probing,
engaging, insightful, and wonderfully presented. Privacy and the
American Constitution is a stellar contribution to knowledge.
Albert W. Alschuler, Julius Kreeger of Law and Criminology, Emeritus,
University of Chicago
A powerful and innovate contribution to constitutional law. Not only
does Heffernan offer us a fascinating and persuasive account of how
modern constitutional rights grew out of the personal space offered to
us in an earlier era, he also explains why privacy rights deserve the
newfound importance they have in our modern jurisprudence, based upon
the same Madisonian approach to constitutional interpretation that
justifies other central parts of modern constitutional law.
Marc Jonathan Blitz, Alan Joseph Bennett Professor of Law, Oklahoma
City University School of Law
