Speaking of the United States Constitution

as anyone knows who reads this blog regularly, our on-going national constitutional crisis is a big issue here... i thought that a perspective on that crisis from perhaps THE leading constitutional scholar in the country would be apropos...

mark graber at balkinization comments on professor walter murphy...

For those who do not know, Professor Murphy is easily the most distinguished scholar of public law in political science. His works on both constitutional theory and judicial behavior are classics in the field. Bluntly, legal scholarship that does not engage many themes in his book, briefly noted below, Constitutional Democracy, may be legal, but cannot be said to be scholarship. As interesting, for present purposes, readers of the book will discover that Murphy is hardly a conventional political or legal liberal. While he holds some opinions, most notably on welfare, similar to opinions held on the political left, he is a sharp critic of ROE V. WADE, and supported the Alito nomination.

you can listen to audio or watch a video of professor murphy's speech in a variety of formats at the link below... it's highly informative... his major theme is that the bush administration's constitutional agenda has focused on loosening governmental responsibility and decreasing civil liberties...

The Constitution, Dead or Alive?
Walter F. Murphy, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence Emeritus, Princeton University

(Sep 19, 2006 at Princeton University; part of Constitution Day events co-sponsored by the Pace Center and the Program in Law and Public Affairs)

(note: professor murphy's speech begins at 4'08" into the program and ends at 43', followed by a q & a session...)

amy goodman at democracy now also interviewed professor murphy about his difficulties in traveling to princeton in april to attend a conference... apparently, his speech last september landed him on the terrorist "watch list"...

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