Overview
- Libertarian and conservative writers mark the 234th anniversary by asserting that constitutional rights now function more on paper than in daily life.
- Critics fault executive orders, emergency declarations, and federalized law enforcement for bypassing congressional checks and eroding federalism.
- Analyses trace a judicial shift since the 1920s, arguing incorporation and expanded due process turned the Bill of Rights from a federal restraint into a tool for overriding state policy.
- Commentary highlights prosecutorial leverage—coercive plea bargaining, pretrial detention, the trial penalty, and the dual‑sovereigns exception—as undermining jury trials and due process.
- Authors liken modern digital surveillance and algorithmic searches to general warrants and call for renewed civic and legal efforts to reinforce procedural protections.