Politics

Now Available: Damon Root's New Book Overruled: The Long War for Control of the U.S. Supreme Court

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Today is the official release date for my book Overruled: The Long War for Control of the U.S. Supreme Court. It's available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and everywhere else books are sold online.

Here's what the early reviewers are saying:

"A riveting account of the raging debate over the future of our Constitution between those who contend that judges must 'defer' to legislatures and those who view the judiciary as an equal branch of government whose mandate is to secure the rights and liberties of the people by holding government to its just powers. Root reveals the inside story behind the surging movement to restore constitutionally-limited government. I loved this book." —Randy E. Barnett, Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory, Georgetown University Law Center, and Director, Georgetown Center for the Constitution

"An intriguing account of judicial and economic policy reflecting controversies within conservatism over civil rights and other issues."—Kirkus Reviews

"In Overruled, Damon Root explains a divide in judicial theory about which I was not only ignorant but mistaken. 'Judicial activism' is wrong. Right? It gives unelected authorities minority power to impose rules and regulations that violate individual rights without a democratic process. Wrong. It's 'judicial deference' that gives elected authorities majority power to impose rules and regulations that violate individual rights within a democratic process. And to further confuse the issue judicial activism and judicial deference have, by turns, been the darlings of both Liberals and Conservatives. Fortunately, Damon Root explains it all."—P. J. O'Rourke, journalist and H. L. Mencken Research Fellow at the Cato Institute

"The conflict between judicial activism and judicial restraint has been part of the Supreme Court since its inception. In this book, Root, senior editor at Reason magazine, takes a fresh look at activism vs. restraint by placing judicial interpretation at the center of the ideological disagreements between libertarians and conservatives that have taken place throughout U.S. history…. The segments about gun control and the Affordable Care Act are especially compelling."—Library Journal

"Damon Root, whom I have had the pleasure of interrogating on television, understands the concept of personal liberty in a free society better than many members of the legal profession; and he knows, too, that the Constitution was written by men who properly feared the numerous insidious ways that government assaults our natural rights. In Overruled, he shares his knowledge and uncanny ability to explain liberty lost with his readers. This book is nothing short of a lucid and brilliantly crafted history of the Framers' fears coming to pass at the hands of a judiciary faithless to first principles. Read it today so you can anticipate and understand the judicial contortions coming tomorrow."—Hon. Andrew P. Napolitano, Senior Judicial Analyst, Fox News Channel, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Constitutional Jurisprudence, Brooklyn Law School

Perhaps you'd like to peek inside the book and read an excerpt? Amazon will let you do it.