September 17 is Constitution Day, commemorating the 1787 signing of the United States Constitution in Philadelphia. The National Archives and Records Administration, which houses the original document, maintains a page for America's Founding Documents: The Constitution of the United States with a transcription and historical background about the document and its signing. (Constitution Day shares the September 17 holiday with Citizenship Day, an occasion often marked by naturalization ceremonies across the country. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service offers a sample citizenship test on its website: can you achieve a passing score?)
As always, you can pick up a pocket copy of the U.S. Constitution at the library service desk, while supplies last. You might also want to take a look at the thousands of resources in the Duke Libraries Catalog on constitutional law and interpretation. Some recent highlights from the print and electronic collections:
- Elie Mystal, Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution (2022). A bitingly humorous look at constitutional interpretation from the former Above the Law editor and current cable news commentator, with chapter titles like "You know this thing can be amended, right?"
- H. Jefferson Powell, The Practice of American Constitutional Law (KF4550 .P67 2022 & online). Explores how constitutional arguments have been constructed throughout American history. Prof. Powell is also the author of The Foundations of American Law: A Companion to the 1L Year (Reserves KF380 .P685 2024), an introduction to legal history and legal thought.
- Neil S. Siegel, The Collective-Action Constitution (KF4550 .S49 2024 & online). An examination of the principles animating the structure of the Constitution. Prof. Siegel is also the co-author of United States Constitutional Law: Concepts and Insights (2d ed 2024, Reserve KF4550 .F368 2024 & online).
- Cass R. Sunstein, How to Interpret the Constitution (KF4550 .S834 2023 & online). An argument for rethinking approaches to constitutional interpretation.
For more titles, try a keyword or subject search in the Duke Libraries Catalog for constitutional law united states or Ask a Librarian.
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