Displaced Torah? Toward a Theory of Jews and the Constitution
1.0 Substantive credits
Jews played almost no role in shaping the original Constitution, but American Jews have played an important role in modern constitutional interpretation as theorists and practitioners. From Brandeis and Frankfurter to Ginsburg, Breyer, and Kagan, and from Frank to Cover, Fiss, Dworkin and beyond, is there a unifying account of culturally Jewish efforts to make sense of the Constitution and apply it as the law of the political community?
About the “Jewish Law and the Constitution” Series
The familiar talmudic statement dina de-malkhuta dina (the law of the kingdom is the law) doesn’t even begin to cover the complex relationship between Judaism and state law. This series will draw out some signal characteristics of that relationship as it has evolved and unfolded in the orbit of American constitutional law. Each talk highlights one arena in which the legal system has been drawn into conversation with Jewish life and vice versa. Case by case, they tell stories of religion and politics, democracy and minorities, theory and practice: law entangled with law.