Update: I just saw the link from Professor Barnett at the Volokh Conspiracy so I reposted this post to the top of the blog! Thanks for the link! I launched this blog less than 48 hours ago. Please help spread the word about my fledgling blog; add me to your RSS Feed, follow me on Twitter, check me out on Facebook, and peruse my published articles on SSRN. Thanks!
Update Again: Just saw the link from one of my favorite blogs, the Faculty Lounge. In response, the red cover is offset by the jingoistic American flag, so I didn’t think that comment warranted my attention! And technically, shouldn’t the cover include the American flag in 2020, with stars for all 57 states! But see this comment
I was just glancing at my bookshelf, and I noticed an interesting contrast between the cover of Randy Barnett’s Restoring the Lost Constitution, The Presumption of Liberty and The Constitution in 2020 by Jack Balkin and Reva Siegel.
Look at these two covers, and what do you notice?
Restoring the Lost Constitution
Constitution in 2020
Give up? Look at the Constitution on each cover. In Barnett’s book, the text of the Constitution is prominent, and there are chunks of the Great Charter cut out, to represent how the Supreme Court has (mis)treated the document under glass in the National Archives. On the cover of the Constitution in 2020, much like the contents therein, the actual text of the Constitution is a faded afterthought. If you squint closely, behind the American flag (I suppose that relates to the Constitution), and the names of the 23 contributors, in a hard-to-read black text on a red background, is the text of the Constitution.
Now, I am not implying that this stylistic choice was an intentional slight against the Constitution. Nor do I even think this thought occurred to anyone involved in the publication. Rather, this is simply one of my absurd observations that has little significance, but finds refuge in this jurisprudence of blog. But, in my humble opinion, the covers of these two texts on the Constitution serve as lodestars for the content inside.
POLL. So let’s figure it out. Which cover do you prefer?
[polldaddy poll=2065070]