We add a new feature to the Marquette Law School Faculty Blog this semester: a virtual book club.  Over the course of the semester, participants will read and post about a particular book.  The book this semester will be The Invisible Constitution by Laurence Tribe (left).  From the publisher’s description:

As everyone knows, the United States Constitution is a tangible, visible document. Many see it in fact as a sacred text, holding no meaning other than that which is clearly visible on the page. Yet as renowned legal scholar Laurence Tribe shows, what is not written in the Constitution plays a key role in its interpretation. Indeed some of the most contentious Constitutional debates of our time hinge on the extent to which it can admit of divergent readings.

In The Invisible Constitution, Tribe argues that there is an unseen constitution — impalpable but powerful — that accompanies the parchment version. It is the visible document’s shadow, its dark matter: always there and possessing some of its key meanings and values despite its absence on the page. As Tribe illustrates, some of our most cherished and widely held beliefs about constitutional rights are not part of the written document, but can only be deduced by piecing together hints and clues from it.

Joining me in commenting on the book will be: Rebecca Blemberg, Bruce Boyden, Rick Esenberg, Melissa Greipp, Gordon Hylton, Julian Kossow, Mike McChrystal, Chad Oldfather, and Phoebe Williams.  I look forward to reading what my colleagues will have to say over the course of the semester.