The Bill of Rights: What It Is, What It Means, and How It's Been Misused [Hardcover]

Shannon Leigh Fallon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 1996

A detailed analysis of the Bill of Rights discusses the twenty-seven amendments to the Constitution, explaining what they are, what they mean today, and how they have been misused. IP.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 86 pages
• Publisher: Dickens Pr (February 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880741253
• ISBN-13: 978-1880741252
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,302,333 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Accuracy rating = 0; Cult/humor rating = 10, November 1, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bill of Rights: What It Is, What It Means, and How It's Been Misused (Hardcover)

The introduction's first paragraph contains the first sign of trouble: "Remember learning about . . . the Bill of Rights? Me neither." And then the book goes downhill less gracefully than the "agony of defeat" skier from ABC's "Wide World of Sports." Documenting the errors in the book would require a tome of greater length than Ms. Fallon's lean effort, but some of the mistakes must be pointed out lest the reader think this review too harsh. Of the Fourth Amendment, Ms. Fallon writes: "It is unconstitutional for anyone . . . to search and/or seize an individual's body or private property, unless a specific, court-approved search warrant is presented" (p. 34). Initially, the idea that the Fourth Amendment restricts the acts of private individuals is farcical. Beyond that, the Supreme Court has been quite clear that warrants are not required in all searches or seizures. Ms. Fallon incorrectly states that the Fifth Amendment prohibits criminal trials without a grand-jury indictment. In truth, that prohibition applies only to the federal government, a fact that seems to have escaped the author. She believes that the phrase "just compensation" in the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment requires the government to "justify when they confiscate someone's property" (p. 39) in addition to paying for it. It would be innacurate to state that the book is completely wrong--though not by much. The misguided author completely misconstrues two of the amendments. Of the Second Amendment's "right to bear arms," she writes: "The Second Amendment is perhaps the most important amendment. First of all, it entitles the American people to an army, navy, and marines. . ." (p. 25). Had she bothered to check the body of the Constitution itself, Ms. Fallon might have been quite suprised to learn that the power to maintain an army is in fact found there. The Seventh Amendment provides for the right to a jury trial in certain *civil* cases. Ms. Fallon, however, comes up with the novel proposition that this amendment instead prevents criminal prosecutions in certain cases: "If, for example, you steal something that amounts to a value of less than twenty dollars, then not much can be done to prosecute you in a court of law" (p. 49). She also concludes that "[a]nything less [than $20] is handled outside of court." There comes a point when the sentient reader passes from disbelief at the words s/he is reading to a sense of uncontrolled hilarity. In discussing the first ten amendments to the Constitution, Ms. Fallon cites not a single case, despite the fact that the interpretation of the Bill of Rights comes to us through cases. Apparently determined not to become mired down in facts, Ms. Fallon has produced perhaps the funniest book since Douglas Adams's "Hitch Hiker" series. Though the title suggests this book about the Bill of Rights will tell us "What It Is," what we get instead are the incoherent, naive, and extraordinarily incorrect guesses of a complete legal novice (for lack of a word indicating less experience and knowledge).

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Diffrent Perspective, July 30, 2000

By 

A True Patriot (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bill of Rights: What It Is, What It Means, and How It's Been Misused (Hardcover)

With so many diffrent opinions on how to interpret the Bill of Rights, it is nice to see a clear, and concise interpritation by Mrs. Fallon. I may not agree with all points by the author but I truely enjoyed the elegance, and the simplicity of her writing style . If all educators put as much care into their teaching about the Bill of Rights as Mrs. Fallon did with her writing of it,this country would be far better off. Use the information in this book and combine it with all you know and have a better understanding of the Constitution.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fill your Christmas stockings with this one., December 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bill of Rights: What It Is, What It Means, and How It's Been Misused (Hardcover)

Does the Bill of Rights, i.e. the first ten amendments to the Constitution, seem to you to be a moribund if not dead letter? Then you'll want to read, and want to give, Shannon Leigh Fallon's trenchant little book, The Bill of Rights: What It Is, What It Means and How It's Been Misused. I'm enthused by this book, not only because of its troubling subject matter, which is deadly serious, but because of another refreshing quality: It's mercifully short.Few publishers seem to have gotten the message, enforcing on writers the rule that books must consume 200 to 700 pages of pulp, which commonly results in ridiculous padding by authors, that our increasingly attention-deficited readers thirst for concision. Fallon's book revives a splendid custom of public philosophers and polemicists to write short, policy-oriented books.This is Fallon's first book (may there be many more), and it gets right to the point about our imperiled rights. With Waco and Ruby Ridge still in the news, and a tyrannical anti-terrorism bill about to Strip James Madison's legacy even more than our swelled national government already has, this is a potentially popular book that will help Americans revive their rights. Happily, Fallon explains, in lucid prose, why politically popular "group rights" are misnamed and untenable. For a right to be a legitimate right, damn it, it has to belong to an individual. Nor can it be a government-granted entitlement, such as free health care care or schooling. Get quantities of this one and give it to everyone on your list; it'll fit in a Christmas stocking.