Zinos on Fundamental Rights in Early American Case Law

Nicholas Zinos (Mitchell Hamline School of Law) has posted Fundamental Rights in Early American Case Law: 1789-1859 (Forthcoming British Journal of American Legal Studies Vol. 7) on SSRN.  Here is the abstract: Fundamental Rights Law is a ubiquitous feature of modern American jurisprudence. Where did the term “Fundamental Rights” come from, and how was it applied in early American case law? This article outlines the genesis of fundamental rights law in early 17th century England and how this law developed and was applied over time. The English Bill of Rights of 1689 was the first attempt to codify these rights in English law. When the English legal system emigrated to America along with the early American colonists, it included the English conception of fundamental rights. The framers of the United States Constitution incorporated and expanded these rights. Early American Case law kept strictly within this tradition for the most past, and used the…

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