When I was in college, a professor suggested that I read Freedom Spent by the legal writer Richard Harris. Freedom Spent was a narrative of three case studies in which Americans lost their civil liberties during legal proceedings that adhered to the letter of the law, or abided by a strict constructionist (narrow) interpretation of the law that disregarded the gravitas and prevailing spirit of the U.S. Constitution. I lent Freedom Spent to so many friends that eventually I lost track of it and fear it is no longer in my library.
Today, I am more convinced than ever that America has the most amazing...