''Restoring the Lost Constitution: The Presumption of Liberty'' is a 2003 book about the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

written by

Randy Barnett Randy Evan Barnett (born February 5, 1952) is an American legal scholar. He serves as the Patrick Hotung Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown University, where he teaches constitutional law and contracts, and is the director of the Georg ...

, a professor of law at the

Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...

. In the book, Barnett outlines his theory of constitutional legitimacy, interpretation, and construction. He argues that the Constitution should be interpreted by its "original meaning", distinct from the

Founding Fathers The Founding Fathers of the United States, often simply referred to as the Founding Fathers or the Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the War of Independence ...

original intent Original intent is a theory in law concerning constitutional and statutory interpretation. It is frequently used as a synonym for originalism; while original intent is one theory in the originalist family, it has some salient differences whic ...

. ''Restoring the Lost Constitution'' was awarded the 2005 Lysander Spooner Award for Advancing the Literature of Liberty by Laissez Faire Books.

Summary

''Restoring the Lost Constitution'' is broken into four parts, each addressing an aspect of the U.S. Constitution. # Constitutional Legitimacy describes the most common arguments for constitutional legitimacy, and argues against them in practical terms. Barnett suggests that in practice it is impossible for any constitution to derive its legitimacy from consent, but it must rather derive legitimacy through "necessity" and "propriety". # Constitutional Method # Constitutional Limits # Constitutional Powers

Reception

The ''

Journal of Libertarian Studies The Ludwig von Mises Institute for Austrian Economics, or Mises Institute, is a nonprofit think tank headquartered in Auburn, Alabama, that is a center for Austrian economics, right-wing libertarian thought and the paleolibertarian and anarc ...

'' reviewed the book, stating that "though well-intentioned, the book is fatally flawed". The Future of Freedom Foundation praised ''Restoring the Lost Constitution'', comparing it to "a great symphony on which the composer labored for years, poring over passages again and again to get them just right." The Atlas Society also reviewed the book, writing "Despite its occasional lack of focus, ''Restoring the Lost Constitution'' is a succinct and accurate distillation of libertarian constitutional theory—and it convincingly shows that this phrase is largely redundant." Steven G. Calabresi of the Michigan Law Review Association praised the work, citing that it "replaces Richard Epstein's ''Takings'' as the leading tome about constitutional law written from a libertarian perspective". The

American Political Science Association The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political scientists in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, it publishes four ...

reviewed the book, saying that it was "a welcome addition to a never-ending debate". Ronald Kahn of the '' Law and Politics Book Review'' wrote that the book was "terrific in demonstrating the natural rights background to our Constitution and demonstrating that all rights cannot be listed in the Constitution", but that "Barnett's fundamental problem is that he allows for 'constitutional construction' when originalism cannot tell us which meanings to adopt, but he does not seem to allow for social construction of law, or changing social meanings". In ''Ethics'' Matthew Simpson criticized ''Restoring the Lost Constitution'', stating that while Barnett "argues persuasively that an unprincipled judiciary poses a great threat to constitutionalism in America ... his own principle for reading the Constitution, the presumption of liberty, is implausible and deeply flawed".Simpson, Matthew. ''Ethics'', The University of Chicago Press. Vol. 116, No. 1, October 2005.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Restoring The Lost Constitution 2003 non-fiction books United States constitutional commentary Libertarian books American non-fiction books Princeton University Press books Books about conservatism