Religious Liberty and the American Founding: Natural Rights and the Original Meanings of the First Amendment Religion Clauses

An insightful rethinking of the meaning of the First Amendment’s protection of religious freedom.\nThe Founders understood religious liberty to be an inalienable natural right. Vincent Phillip Muñoz explains what this means for church-state constitutional law, uncovering what we can and cannot determine about the original meanings of the First Amendment’s Religion Clauses and constructing a natural rights jurisprudence of religious liberty.\nDrawing on early state constitutions, declarations of religious freedom, Founding-era debates, and the First Amendment’s drafting record, Muñoz demonstrates that adherence to the Founders’ political philosophy would lead neither to consistently conservative nor consistently liberal results. Rather, adopting the Founders’ understanding would lead to a minimalist church-state jurisprudence that, in most cases, would return authority from the judiciary to the American people. Thorough and convincing, Religious Liberty and the American Founding is key reading for those seeking to understand the Founders’ political philosophy of religious freedom and the First Amendment Religion Clauses.

Muñoz, Vincent Phillip

Constitutional Law

University of Chicago Press

A insightful rethinking of the meaning of the First Amendment's protection of religious freedom. &nbsp; The Founders understood religious liberty to be an inalienable natural right. Vincent Phillip Muñoz explains what this means for church-state constitutional law, uncovering what we can and cannot determine about the original meanings of the First Amendment's Religion Clauses and constructing a natural rights jurisprudence of religious liberty.&nbsp;&nbsp; Drawing on early state constitutions, declarations of religious freedom, Founding-era debates, and the First Amendment's drafting record, Muñoz demonstrates that adherence to the Founders' political philosophy would lead neither to consistently conservative nor consistently liberal results. Rather, adopting the Founders' understanding would lead to a minimalist church-state jurisprudence that, in most cases, would return authority from the judiciary to the American people.&nbsp;Thorough and convincing, Religious Liberty and the American Founding is key reading for those seeking to understand the Founders' political philosophy of religious freedom and the First Amendment Religion Clauses.

American Constitutional Law 11e, Volume I provides a comprehensive account of the nation's defining document, examining how its provisions were originally understood by those who drafted and ratified it, and how they have since been interpreted by the Supreme Court, Congress, the President, lower federal courts, and state judiciaries. Clear and accessible chapter introductions and a careful balance between classic and recent cases provide students with a sense of how the law has been understood and construed over the years. The 11th Edition has been fully revised to include several new cases, including Trump v. Hawaii (2018), in which Chief Justice Roberts held that Korematsu v. United States "has been overruled in the court of history"; Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association (2018), in which Justice Alito’s majority opinion provides the most compelling argument to date against federal commandeering of state officials; and Sveen v. Melin (2018), a Contract Clause case that shows the Court’s continuing refusal to give a textualist reading of that provision, even in the face of Justice Gorsuch’s compelling and amusing dissent. A revamped and expanded companion website offers access to even more additional cases, an archive of primary documents, and links to online resources, making this text essential for any constitutional law course.

American Constitutional Law, Volume I: The Structure of Government

Tarr, G. Alan

Rossum, Ralph

Routledge

American Constitutional Law 11e, Volume II provides a comprehensive account of the nation's defining document, examining how its provisions were originally understood by those who drafted and ratified it, and how they have since been interpreted by the Supreme Court, Congress, the President, lower federal courts, and state judiciaries. Clear and accessible chapter introductions and a careful balance between classic and recent cases provide students with a sense of how the law has been understood and construed over the years. The 11th Edition now includes several landmark First Amendment cases, including Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (2018), Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky (2018), National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Beccera (2018), Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer (2017) and Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018). It also includes Carpenter v. United States (2018). A revamped and expanded companion website offers access to even more additional cases, an archive of primary documents, and links to online resources, making this text essential for any constitutional law course.

American Constitutional Law, Volume II: The Bill of Rights and Subsequent Amendments

Tarr, Alan

God and the Founders: Madison, Washington, and Jefferson

Did the Founding Fathers intend to build a "wall of separation" between church and state? Are public Ten Commandments displays or the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance consistent with the Founders' understandings of religious freedom? In God and the Founders, Dr. Vincent Phillip Muñoz answers these questions by providing new, comprehensive interpretations of James Madison, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson. By analyzing Madison's, Washington's, and Jefferson's public documents, private writings, and political actions, Muñoz explains the Founders' competing church-state political philosophies. Muñoz explores how Madison, Washington, and Jefferson agreed and disagreed by showing how their different principles of religious freedom would decide the Supreme Court's most important First Amendment religion cases. God and the Founders answers the question, "What would the Founders do?" for the most pressing church-state issues of our time, including prayer in public schools, government support of religion, and legal burdens on individual's religious conscience.

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Cambridge University Press

History

Throughout American history, legal battles concerning the First Amendment’s protection of religious liberty have been among the most contentious issue of the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution. Religious Liberty and the American Supreme Court: The Essential Cases and Documents represents the most authoritative and up-to-date overview of the landmark cases that have defined religious freedom in America. Noted religious liberty expert Vincent Philip Munoz (Notre Dame) provides carefully edited excerpts from over fifty of the most important Supreme Court religious liberty cases. In addition, Munoz’s substantive introduction offers an overview on the constitutional history of religious liberty in America. Introductory headnotes to each case provides the constitutional and historical context. Religious Liberty and the American Constitution will be an indispensable resource for anyone interested matters of religious freedom from the Republics earliest days to current debates.

Religious Liberty and the American Supreme Court: The Essential Cases and Documents

World

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Throughout American history, legal battles concerning the First Amendment's protection of religious liberty have been among the most contentious issue of the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution. This book represents the most authoritative and up-to-date overview of the landmark cases that have defined religious freedom in America.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Muñoz, Vincent Phillip. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Muñoz, Vincent Phillip

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Muñoz, Vincent Phillip. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Religious Liberty and the American Founding: Natural Rights and the Original Meanings of the First Amendment Religion Clauses

Religious Liberty and the American Founding: Natural Rights and the Original Meanings of the First Amendment Religion Clauses

American Constitutional Law, Volume I: The Structure of Government

American Constitutional Law, Volume II: The Bill of Rights and Subsequent Amendments

God and the Founders: Madison, Washington, and Jefferson

God and the Founders: Madison, Washington, and Jefferson

Religious Liberty and the American Supreme Court: The Essential Cases and Documents

Religious Liberty and the American Supreme Court: The Essential Cases and Documents