Prof. Levenson publishes review of American Founding Son: John Bingham and the Invention of the 14th Amendment

By Professor Laurie Levenson

Professor Levenson's review, "When Legislators Actually Mattered," appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books.

Excerpt:

PROFESSOR GERARD MAGLIOCCA spares no detail in his comprehensive review of John Bingham's life and his drafting of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. For history buffs, constitutional scholars, and civil war experts, the book is a smorgasbord of facts about a critical period in America's history. The reader is taken step by step through the political and legal hurdles required to enact one of the most significant post-Bill of Rights provisions of our Constitution.
The 14th Amendment makes America the country it is today. Without it, Reconstruction following the Civil War was unlikely to have succeeded. Without it, there would be no limits on the states' ability to restrict freedoms of speech and religion, nor any guarantee that local law enforcement would honor citizens' rights against unreasonable search and seizure.

Read the complete review.