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The Odd Clauses: Understanding the Constitution through Ten of Its Most Curious Provisions, by Jay Wexler

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Review

“I love this book. It is, believe it or not, an utterly entertaining constitutional law book. I am blown away by Wexler's comedic skills and his ability to make the usually dry subject matter so funny and readable.”—Gary Gulman, Finalist, Last Comic Standing and Guest, Late Night With David Letterman and The Tonight Show“In Holy Hullabaloos, Jay Wexler took us along on what he called a "road trip" to some of the most important places connected to the First Amendment's religion clauses. This time, in The Odd Clauses, Wexler exits off the highway to take us on a tour of some back roads of constitutional law: places scholars and the public seldom visit like the Bill of Attainder Clause or the Third Amendment (which prohibits quartering of troops in private houses during peacetime, in case you didn't know.) The result is magical: you'll have so much fun reading about these unsung constitutional provisions that you won't realize until the trip is over how much you've learned.”— Pamela S. Karlan, Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law“The book provides a fresh vantage point from which to consider the Constitution.”—Choice Magazine“Professor Wexler dispenses his expertise on the Constitution with a light touch, imparting many lasting insights and a few belly laughs along the way. What a delight to discover that our founding document is not only brilliant, but brilliantly weird.”—Ben H. Winters, author of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters“A know-it-all's treasure trove, a cabinet of constitutional curiosities, The Odd Clauses touches down on NASA, Ellis Island, even Saturday Night Live. Jay Wexler is brilliantly snarky, erudite and comedic.”—Julianna Baggott, author of Girl Talk and Pure“The maniacs who run the modern American political process seem determined to reduce our Constitution to a electoral fetish object. Thank God, then, that we have Jay Wexler, whose wise and funny treatise reminds us that the Constitution is, like the men who drafted it, brilliant but imperfect. I learned more reading this book than in my entire college career. This isn't saying much given my college career, I realize. But I now plan to attend law school. It's that good.”—Steve Almond, author of Candyfreak and God Bless AmericaFrom the Hardcover edition.

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About the Author

Jay Wexler teaches at the Boston University School of Law. He previously clerked for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and then served as a lawyer in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel. Wexler’s writing has appeared in Boston magazine, Spy, and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, among other publications. His first book was Holy Hullabaloos: A Road Trip to the Battlegrounds of the Church-State Wars. From the Hardcover edition.

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Product details

Paperback: 240 pages

Publisher: Beacon Press (September 4, 2012)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0807000892

ISBN-13: 978-0807000892

Product Dimensions:

5.6 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches

Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review:

3.7 out of 5 stars

40 customer reviews

Amazon Best Sellers Rank:

#270,652 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

The Constitution of the United States is the oldest functioning written constitution in the world. Many Americans become aware of the Constitution and its major provisions when the Supreme Court decides a controversial case in matters involving free speech, civil rights, criminal justice, or other highly visible issues. But the constitution is a working document which established a government, the division of powers in the government, and the relationship of the Federal government to the states. Many of the nuts-and-bolts provisions of the Constitution and its 27 amendments remain obscure even to lawyers who do not work with them on a regular basis. Jay Wexler's upcoming book "The Odd Clauses: Understanding the Constitution through ten of its most Curious Provisions" (2011) offers a tour of some of the provisions of the Constitution that do not receive a great deal of attention but which remain important to understanding the document and American government. Wexler has been a professor at the Boston University School of Law since 2001. He served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg and worked for two years at the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) of the Department of Justice. OLC is charged with difficult issues of constitutional interpretation for the government.Besides his strong legal credentials, Wexler is a writer and a humorist who has published stories and funny essays. His many talents show in this book but do not always work well together. Although the learning in the book is impressive and well conveyed, the sometimes biting and iconoclastic humor, satire, and the colloquial writing style, full of contemporary slang and street idiom, frequently distracted from the presentation. To take an example out of many, Wexler offers two imagined scenarios of the nine Supreme Court Justices debating one or another legal point. The little scenes are intended to be funny and perhaps succeed. The Justices are not presented as particularly thoughtful individuals, and the scenes do not illuminate the law or the process of decision making. In addition, Wexler is too dogmatically sure of the "right" legal answer and approach in some controversial issues. It is valuable to see an individual learned in the Constitution stake out and defend a position. In this book, however, Wexler sometimes just states his position and brushes aside sharply those who might disagree with or question his conclusions.With these shortcomings, the book offers valuable insight into the Constitution and into issues of Constitutional interpretation. In each chapter of the book, Wexler takes one of the more obscure constitutional clauses and begins with an incident showing the circumstances in which the clause must be interpreted and applied. He then discusses the history of the clause, including Court decisions that have construed it over the years. Wexler links the clause he discusses to other Federal laws and Constitutional provisions, which offers help both in understanding the clause under discussion and the broader scope of the Constitution. It also gives the book a bit of a wandering approach which is appealing. At the end of each chapter, Wexler indicates how the issue with which he began the chapter was resolved, if it was, and offers his own thoughts on the significance of the clause. His conclusions are thoughtful and worthwhile.The book touches upon issues of Constitutional interpretation. Some of the well-known provisions of the Constitution are notoriously vague, such as the due process or equal protection provisions. Such clauses require much interpretation to be understood. Some of the provisions Wexler discusses are markedly specific. For example, Wexler discusses the Constitutional requirement that an individual must be at least 35 years old to be the President. How do the presence of both specific and vague provisions in the Constitution effect how one interprets the document? Wexler raises the issue, but tries to show how some scholars have argued that even the age requirement in the Constitution is textually indeterminate and means that the person must be of requisite maturity rather than meeting the test of a specific age requirement. Would a person aged 34 and one half qualify to be president? Wexler suggests the issue is debatable. I think Wexler gives more credit to "indeterminate" readings than they deserve, especially when faced with a clear bright-line text.The ten provisions Wexler discusses serve a variety of purposes, and Wexler explains them well. He discusses an important and uniquely American provision which prohibits holding joint positions in the executive and legislative branches of the governent. There are interesting discussions of the metric system, recess appointments, the Supreme Court's power to hear lawsuits between States, the constitutional requirments for presidents (including the well-thrashed out issues of whether President Obama and candidate McCain were natural-born citizens as required by the Constitution), and prohibition, and whether it survived in the 21st amendment which repealed the earlier prohibition amendment. Wexler offers three good chapters on letters of marque (which allows Congress to engage privateers to combat piracy), bills of attainder and the prohibition of titles of nobility. A final chapter examines the third amendment and its provisions against quartering of soldiers. This provision achieved brief notoriety when it was used by Justice Douglas in a 1960's case involving the right to privacy. Wexler offers a commonsense conclusion that the Third Amendment is important precisely because there has been so little litigation about it. It provision against the quartering of soldiers has rarely, if ever, been violated.Both lay readers and lawyers will gain increased understanding about the Constitution from reading this book. Prior background and familiarity with the document will be valuable. The book may encourage readers to think about the nature of American constitutionalism and, in ways that may not necessarily be Wexler's own, about the nature of Constitutional interpretation.Robin Friedman

Its uneven. The treatment of the Incompatibility Clause, for example, shows how seemingly unrelated parts of the constitution form a cohesive whole with a consistent philosophy of government. The treatment of the weights and measures clause, on the other hand, is mainly a diatribe against the US system of inches, pounds, etc.As other reviewers noted, the author likes to make fun of conservatives. To be fair, he occasionally makes fun of the liberal members of the supreme court as well. Many of his jokes are funny. What is more to the point, is that the author spends more time than he should cracking jokes. This a short work and the humor which pads it means that the real meat in this book is brief.On the whole, I learned a fair amount from this book.

As a high school teacher, I am always looking for engaging ways to educate my students about the Constitution. This book, even with its unique focus, conveys a large amount of information that I would consider essential to understanding perhaps the most important document we have. The humor (besides the imagined dialogue) keep your attention and you'll rarely find yourself reading information you're already familiar with. Think 'Lies My Teacher Told Me' if it was about the Constitution and actually told you new information.

A delightful and fascinating romp through the obscure and bizarre rules buried within the US Constitution.

It went along perfectly with the government class I'm taking. It was a pretty funny read and it really explains the US Constitution. Although the main focus of the book are the odd clauses of the Constitution, it goes into depth on a lot of other parts of our government. It's pretty wacky but if you want a basic understanding of how our Constitution works, this is a great book for you. If you are a high school student and your teacher is making you read it, you'll be fine. Its a good book and not too long either (193 pages not including index and notes).

An entertaining book marred only by the author's occasional inability to distinguish between when he is being funny (most of the time) and when he is just belittling people who disagree with his own personal views. In other words, it occasionally reads like the New York Times, which I suppose isn't surprising since at one point he refers to that periodical as "the nation's most important newspaper." Well, I suppose they *do* have Will Shortz. Anyway, worth the ten bucks, and maybe now I'll come up with some fantastic nobility clause or weights and measures argument I might have missed before.Like most kindle books, there are formatting errors, but these are mostly limited to the inclusion of "the odd clauses" and page numbers randomly throughout the text-- not nearly as bad as some of the older, hastily converted books I've purchased. But come on publishers, is it too much to ask that you proofread the kindle version at least once?

great read for understanding law without a degree

The author is not just smart, he is also a bit of a smart ass, which is 90% of the reason this book is highly readable.

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