Engines of Liberty; The Power of Citizen Activists to Make Constitutional Law

New York: Basic Books, 2016. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Sam Hollenshead (Author photograph). viii, [2], 307, [3] pages. Chronologies. Notes. Index. Inscribed by the author on the title page. Inscription reads For Ruth- In admiration of your clarity and vision. Best, David Cole. David D. Cole is the National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Before joining the ACLU in July 2016, Cole was the Hon. George J. Mitchell Professor in Law and Public Policy at the Georgetown University Law Center from March 2014 through December 2016. He has published in various legal fields including constitutional law, national security, criminal justice, civil rights, and law and literature. Cole has litigated several significant First Amendment cases in the Supreme Court of the United States, as well a number of influential cases concerning civil rights and national security. He is also a legal correspondent to several mainstream media outlets and publications. Cole was named Co-Chair of the Constitution Project's Liberty and Security Committee in 2001 and joined the Advisory Committee for the Free Expression Policy Project in 2003. He has served on boards for a number of public interest organizations including Human Rights Watch Advisory Committee, Bill of Rights Defense Committee, and the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security. From the national legal director of the ACLU, an essential guidebook for anyone seeking to stand up for fundamental civil liberties and rights--One of Washington Post's Notable Nonfiction Books of 2016. In an age of executive overreach, what role do American citizens have in safeguarding our Constitution and defending liberty? Must we rely on the federal courts, and the Supreme Court above all, to protect our rights? In Engines of Liberty, the esteemed legal scholar David Cole argues that we all have a part to play in the grand civic dramas of our era--and in a revised introduction and conclusion, he proposes specific tactics for fighting Donald Trump's policies. Examining the most successful rights movements of the last thirty years, Cole reveals how groups of ordinary Americans confronting long odds have managed, time and time again, to convince the courts to grant new rights and protect existing ones. Engines of Liberty is a fundamentally new explanation of how our Constitution works and the part citizens play in it. Derived from a Kirkus review: An analysis of how Constitutional law can be changed by principled and committed people who work outside the system rather than within it. In her youth, Marion Hammer hunted rabbits and squirrels and become a champion shooter. After the Gun Control Act of 1968, she also became a gun rights activist. By the mid-1970s, she was a full-time lobbyist for the National Rifle Association and became its first female president in 1995. "Hammer is the leading edge of the NRA's state strategy," writes Cole, focusing on three primary policy areas: marriage equality, the right to bear arms, and human rights in the war on terror. The author's argument—that change pivots on the actions of citizen activists. They are unsurprising crusaders, people supported by powerful groups or organizations (e.g., the NRA, Harvard University) that eventually funnel their causes to lawyers, who eventually argue in front of the Supreme Court. The author's best advice, and the more important point, emerges from his mantra that change is "a marathon, not a sprint." Like Hammer, begin your campaign in a sympathetic state, gain support there, and convince the courts one state at a time. It's also helpful if the advocates of a cause are likable and connected. Cole acknowledges that change doesn't happen in a vacuum and that political, cultural, and social contexts can buoy or destroy a cause, as can judges in lower courts. He argues that normal citizens can be drivers, not just bystanders, but it requires decades of perseverance and, if possible, the backing of an influential lobbyist group or institutional organization. Cole's book is compelling.