The Dirty Dozen

Ever wonder how our nation changed from a country with a Constitution that limited government power to a land where the Constitution is interpreted to limit the rights of the citizenry? And what can be done to restore the founding vision for a free and prosperous nation?

A new book called The Dirty Dozen: How Twelve Supreme Court Cases Radically Expanded Government and Eroded Freedom (Sentinel, $25.95) offers the answers.

Written by IJ President Chip Mellor and IJ Board Member (and senior fellow in constitutional studies at the Cato Institute) Bob Levy, The Dirty Dozen examines the 12 worst U.S. Supreme Court rulings of the modern era—decisions that led us away from our Founders’ Constitution.

Mellor and Levy ask, “If America truly is the Land of the Free, should we have to ask for government permission to participate in an election? Or pursue an honest occupation? And should our government be empowered to take someone’s home only to turn the property over to others for their private use?”

They answer unequivocally, “Of course not,” then take the reader through the sad state of America’s current jurisprudence while pointing the way for judges, justices and legal advocates who are inclined to follow a path to greater freedom.