The Republican Party’s greatest legacy can be found in its early achievements. Under Lincoln’s leadership, it helped preserve the republic during the Civil War, and after his assassination it ratified constitutional amendments that restored lapidary principles from the Declaration of Independence. Yet today many Republicans are ambivalent about a part of this legacy—the 14th Amendment’s seemingly irreproachable commitment to liberty, due process, and equal protection of the laws.
Such ambivalence derives from the past half-century of Supreme Court decisions, from the Warren Court to today, in which justices have used the 14th Amendment and other broadly worded provisions to create judge-made rights. On matters from birth control and abortion to the death penalty and same-sex marriage—and soon, perhaps, transgender rights—Republicans have seen their principles and policies thwarted by the court’s decisions. Thus they are skeptical of efforts to put judicial weight behind the 14th Amendment’s noble words.
A subscription is required to read the full book review "Do We Need Less Democracy?"
