Description
Book SynopsisIn
Freedom's Anchor, famed legal commentator Judge Andrew P. Napolitano makes the case for using natural law principles to restrain government. Going back to Aristotle, Augustine, and Aquinas, Judge Napolitano identifies the origins of Natural Law Theory and explains its growth and development in English and American law. He argues compellingly that the idea that our rights come from our humanity – and not from social consensus or government – is enshrined in the Ninth Amendment, authored by none other than James Madison himself, the scrivener of the Constitution, and is binding on the courts today.
Freedom's Anchor is essentially a history of law and power in the United States as seen through the lens of Natural Law Theory. This work traces the Supreme Court's explicit acceptance and explicit rejection of these principles. For the first time in one volume, Judge Napolitano gives us the universe of all published works in English (and some in Latin and in Spanish) on Natural Law Theory. He has scoured the Supreme Court's writings and examined all that reflect favorably or unfavorably upon the principles of innate human freedom.
After having published nine previous books on the U.S. constitutional history, this is Judge Napolitano's magnum opus. It reflects a lifetime of thinking and understanding by one of America's preeminent legal thinkers. Scholars, judges, and law students will love this book. And non-lawyers who read this book – interested in the courts' historical treatment of fundamental human freedoms and how we lost them – will say to each other: "Wow. I didn't know that! There is still hope.
Trade ReviewThere is no one more qualified than Judge Andrew Napolitano to serve as our guide through American legal and political history." —Former Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas)
"Judge Napolitano, as always, brings the Constitution and our individual personal liberties alive – thereby strengthening the active American identities of this and future generations." —Nat Hentoff, Historian and Journalist
"If I believed in reincarnation, I would think that Judge Andrew P. Napolitano was one of the great lawyers of the American Revolution come back to inspire us. The Judge is a marvel, and so is his book. If you care about your freedom, read it; buy a stack of copies, and spread the word. " —Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Founder and Chair, Ludwig von Mises Institute
