Law Professor: Can the U.S. Constitution Govern a Global Empire?
January 5, 2016
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Writing in The Atlantic, University of Baltimore School of Law Professor Garrett Epps considers whether the Constitution—"written for a coastal republic of 13 states" more than two centuries ago—can work for a global, post-colonial empire.
"The mismatch between constitutional theory and national reality began early," Epps writes. "Thomas Jefferson believed that the Constitution did not permit the nation to acquire new territory. Faced with the chance to buy Louisiana, however, he bit his tongue. Since then, the Constitution's language hasn't changed, but years of conquest, purchase, and outright theft have given the nation two states, Alaska and Hawaii, physically separated and culturally distinct from the lower 48; hundreds of Indian reservations, Rancherias, Pueblos, and Native Villages, which are separated 'dependent nations' incorporated through treaties; a self-governing 'Commonwealth' called Puerto Rico; and more than a dozen other 'insular areas' such as American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands."
Read the article.
Learn more about Prof. Epps and the UB School of Law.