Michael Kent Curtis is Professor of Law at Wake Forest University School of Law.
Review
�The book is carefully organized and well written, and it deals with a question that is still of great importance�what
is the relationship of the Bill of Rights to the states.�
--Journal of American History
�Curtis effectively settles a serious legal debate: whether the framers of the 14th Amendment intended to incorporate
the Bill of Rights guarantees and thereby inhibit state action. Taking on a formidable array of constitutional
scholars, . . . he rebuts their argument with vigor and effectiveness, conclusively demonstrating the legitimacy
of the incorporation thesis. . . . A bold, forcefully argued, important study.�
--Library Journal
Submitted by Duke University Press Web Site, August, 2001
Summary
This work focuses on the issue of whether the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution was designed to bring the states under the provisions of the Bill of Rights. The author traces the origins of the Fourteenth Amendment and provides a comprehensive look into the lawmakers intent. He negates the recently emerging idea that the incorporation doctrine is based on shaky historical foundations.
