How to Read the Constitution--and Why (Legal Expert Series) - Softcover

Now more than ever, you need to understand what the US Constitution is and why we need to protect it so that it continues to protect us. 

In How to Read the Constitution–and Why, legal expert and educator Kim Wehle spells out in clear, simple, commonsense terms what is in the Constitution, and most important, what it means. In everyday language, she describes how the Constitution’s protections are eroding and why every American needs to heed this “red flag” moment in our democracy.

This invaluable – and timely – resource covers nearly every significant aspect of the Constitution, from the powers of the president and how the three branches of government are designed to hold one another accountable to what it means to have individual rights – including free speech, bear arms, free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and an abortion. Finally, the book explains why it has never been more important for all Americans to know how our Constitution works – and to understand why, if we don’t step in to protect it now, we could effectively lose it forever.

Kim Wehle is a tenured Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law, where she teaches and writes on the constitutional separation of powers, administrative law, and civil procedure. She was formerly an Assistant United States Attorney and an Associate Counsel in the Whitewater Investigation. Professor Wehle is also an On-Air and Off-Air Legal Expert, Analyst and Commentator for CBS News, as well as a Contributor for BBC World News and BBC World News America on PBS, an Op-Ed Contributor for The Bulwark, and an Opinion Contributor for The Hill. She has been a regular guest legal analyst on various media outlets regarding Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election and other issues regarding the structural Constitution and the Trump Administration, including on CNN, MSNBC, NPR’s Morning Edition, PBS NewsHour, and Fox News. Her articles have also appeared in the Baltimore Sun, the L.A. Times, and NBC News Think. She is regularly interviewed and cited by prominent print journalists on a range of legal issues. She lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with her children.