Liberty in full : Justice Stephen Field's cooperative constitution of liberty.

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dc.contributor.advisorNichols, David K.
dc.contributor.authorCarrington, Adam M.
dc.contributor.departmentPolitical Science.en_US
dc.contributor.schoolsBaylor University. Dept. of Political Science.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2014-06-11T13:16:58Z
dc.date.available2014-06-11T13:16:58Z
dc.date.copyright2014-05
dc.date.issued2014-06-11
dc.description.abstractIn this dissertation, I examine 19th century Supreme Court Justice Stephen Field’s understanding of liberty. Scholars often define Field’s liberty solely as opposition to government regulation. I challenge this position, arguing that Field articulated a fuller liberty, one which encompassed liberty both from and through government action. Justice Field saw the Constitution as pursuing this fuller liberty, with certain provisions protecting individual rights through government regulation and others by restraining such regulation. To show Field’s perspective, I focus on two sets of Constitutional provisions which Field saw as cooperating toward a full liberty. The first consisted of the Due Process Clause and the states’ police power. The Due Process Clause protected expansively-defined individual rights against impairing state action while the police power protected the same rights from non-governmental threats. The second set of provisions was state and national police power. I show how Field believed that all government wielded a police power for the purpose of protecting individual rights, with the state and national governments cooperating by pursuing this common purpose within their distinct spheres. I then turn to Field’s use of the Declaration of Independence and the common law to interpret liberty’s Constitutional meaning, showing how these documents displayed the context which informed the Constitution. Finally, I conclude with a brief discussion of how Field’s cooperative Constitution of liberty might provide a useful context for contemporary judicial debates over liberty’s meaning and application.en_US
dc.description.degreePh.D.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2104/9052
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisheren
dc.rightsBaylor University theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact librarywebmaster@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.en_US
dc.rights.accessrightsWorldwide accessen_US
dc.subjectSupreme court.en_US
dc.subjectConstitutional law.en_US
dc.subjectLiberty.en_US
dc.subjectLate nineteenth century America.en_US
dc.subjectDue process.en_US
dc.subjectPolice power.en_US
dc.subjectFourteenth amendment.en_US
dc.titleLiberty in full : Justice Stephen Field's cooperative constitution of liberty.en_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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