Ely on Kersch's Constructing Civil Liberties

You may have read Vanderbilt University propertyprof James Ely's important article on Richard Epstein's influence (recommended here.)  Now Ely's review of Ken Kersch's important book, Constructing Civil LIberties: Discontinuities in the Development of American Constitutional Law, is available on the Independent Institute's website.  Everyone's talking about Kersch these days and Ely gives you a quick way of getting up to speed.  You might also be interested in Kersch's recently published edited volume, The Supreme Court and American Political Development.

Yesterday afternoon's mail also brought the good news that James Ely will receive 2006 Brigham-Kanner prize in property from William and Mary Law School at the third annual property rights conference on October 6 and 7.  The previous recipients are Richard Epstein and Frank Michaelman.  Propertyprof readers may be particularly familiar with Jim's outstanding The Guardian of Every Other Right (Oxford University Press, 2nd ed. 1998).  He is also the co-author with Jon Bruce of the popular Cases and Materials on Modern Property (West, 5ed. 2003) and Law of Easements and Licenses in Land (West).  Legal historians also know Jim as the author of, in addition to the Guardian of Every Other Right and lots of important articles, The Chief Justiceship of Melvin Fuller (South Carolina, 1995) and the co-author of the leading American Legal History: Cases and Materials (Oxford University Press, 2005) and Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States (2nd ed. 2005), among many, many other works.  He's also an all-around mensch, especially to younger scholars.

Alfred L. Brophy