cover image Madison's Music: On Reading the First Amendment

Madison's Music: On Reading the First Amendment

Burt Neuborne. New Press, $25.95 (272p) ISBN 978-1-62097-053-9

Neubourne, a New York University law professor who founded the Brennan Center for Justice, argues that the Supreme Court's misreading of the First Amendment has done lasting harm to the body politic. He severely criticizes the Court, stating that justices have built a "dysfunctional democracy" and have "tolerated or perpetuated virtually every undemocratic practice that currently burdens American democracy." Neubourne places much of the blame on the Court's failure to give meaning to the Amendment's reference to "freedom of speech," criticizing appeals to literalism or "what's sometimes called originalism." Neubourne also passionately dismantles the Supreme Court's view of how the first amendment should operate when there are conflicts between the theoretical right of free speech and the rights of those affected by the speech. In his view, the Court has gone too far in protecting the speech at the expense of those that must endure the speech. Neubourne's reading of the Amendment is radically different than traditionalists in many respects; perhaps most inventive is his argument that the Amendment's provisions on free association provide a Constitutional justification to undo gerrymandering and a host of other limitations on the right to vote. All in all, a provocative and well-conceived book that will resonate with liberal America and in some instances with conservative Americans as well. (Feb.)