QUORA: ‘Why do law schools teach constitutional law but not the Declaration of Independence as an animating principle?’

QUORA: ‘Why do law schools teach constitutional law but not the Declaration of Independence as an animating principle?’

Here is my posted answer:

I can’t answer the question directly. But I strongly suspect that the answer lies in the field of political philosophy and that the omission is not accidental.

The question points to a crucial philosophical conflict that has been raging for 200 years. The final outcome of this battle will ultimately determine the future of America as a free country. Constitutional and legal scholar Timothy Sandefur takes on this divide in his book, The Conscience of the Constitution: The Declaration of Independence and the Right to Liberty. In this book, Sandefur answers the question “Is liberty or democracy the primary constitutional value?”

At a time when Americans are increasingly facing violations of their civil liberties, Timothy Sandefur's insightful new book explains why the Declaration of Independence, with its doctrines on the primacy of liberty, the natural rights of man, and the limits on legitimate government, should serve as the guidepost for understanding the Constitution. The author takes the reader through the ideas of substantive due process and judicial activism and defends them from mainstream criticisms while drawing on examples from literature, television, and Supreme Court cases. The Conscience of the Constitution: The Declaration of Independence and the Right to Liberty argues that modern legal doctrines, which value democracy over liberty, are endangering individual rights and corrupting our civic institutions.

 

Obviously, those who value liberty honor the Declaration of Independence. Statists have every reason to devalue the Declaration. Sandefur comes down squarely on the side of individual liberty, as do I. Pro-liberty forces have powerful backing for the belief that the Declaration is the Constitution’s, and the nation’s, “animating principle.” Giants such as leading Abolitionist Frederick Douglass drew upon the Declaration in his fight to end slavery.  Emancipationist President Abraham Lincoln, Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, and Gay Rights leader Harvey Milk did as well in their fights for equal political rights. 

Do the law schools really not teach the Declaration of Independence as an animating principle? If not, shame on them, because as Harvey Milk put it, 

In the Declaration of Independence it is written “All men are created equal and they are endowed with certain inalienable rights . . . .” That’s what America is. No matter how hard you try, you cannot erase those words from the Declaration of Independence.

Related Reading:

On This Constitution Day, Remember the Declaration of Independence