The Cult of the Constitution

"Apowerful challenge to the prevailing constitutional orthodoxy of the right and the left... A deeply troubling and absolutely vital book" (Mark Joseph Stern, Slate). In this provocative book, Mary Anne Franks examines the thin line between constitutional fidelity and constitutional fundamentalism. The Cult of the Constitutionreveals how deep fundamentalist strains in both conservative and liberal American thought keep the Constitution in the service of white male supremacy. Franks demonstrates how constitutional fundamentalists read the Constitution selectively and self-servingly, thus undermining the integrity of the document as a whole. She goes on to argue that economic and civil libertarianism have merged to produce a deregulatory, "free-market" approach to constitutional rights that achieves fullest expression in the idealization of the Internet. The fetishization of the first and second amendments has blurred the boundaries between conduct and speech and between veneration and violence. But the Constitution itself contains the antidote to fundamentalism. The Cult of the Constitutionlays bare the dark, antidemocratic consequences of constitutional fundamentalism and urges readers to take the Constitution seriously, not selectively.

Mary Anne Franks is Professor of Law at the University of Miami School of Law and President and Legislative & Tech Policy Director at the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI). Franks' writing and research have been featured in Time, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and The Guardian, among other outlets.

Introduction: Who We Are 1. The Cult of the Constitution 2. The Cult of the Gun 3. The Cult of Free Speech 4. The Cult of the Internet Conclusion: Until We All Are Free