{"product_id":"states-of-union-mark-e-brandon-9780700619238","title":"States of Union: Family and Change in the American Constitutional Order","description":"In two canonical decisions of the 1920s--\u003ci\u003eMeyer v. Nebraska\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003ePierce v. Society of Sisters\u003c\/i\u003e--the Supreme Court announced that family (including certain relations within it) was an institution falling under the Constitution's protective umbrella. Since then, proponents of \"family values\" have claimed that a timeless form of family--nuclear and biological--is crucial to the constitutional order. Mark Brandon's new book, however, challenges these claims. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBrandon addresses debates currently roiling America--the regulation of procreation, the roles of women, the education of children, divorce, sexuality, and the meanings of marriage. He also takes on claims of scholars who attribute modern change in family law to mid-twentieth-century Supreme Court decisions upholding privacy. He shows that the \"constitutional\" law of family has much deeper roots. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOffering glimpses into American households across time, Brandon looks at the legal and constitutional norms that have aimed to govern those households and the lives within them. He argues that, well prior to the 1960s, the nature of families in America had been continually changing--especially during western expansion, but also in the founding era. He further contends that the monogamous nuclear family was codified only at the end of the nineteenth century as a response to Mormon polygamy, communal experiments, and Native American households. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBrandon discusses the evolution of familial jurisprudence as applied to disputes over property, inheritance, work, reproduction, the status of women and children, the regulation of sex, and the legal limits to and constitutional significance of marriage. He shows how the Supreme Court's famous decisions in the latter part of the twentieth century were largely responses to societal change, and he cites a wide range of cases that offer fresh insight into the ways the legal system responded to various forms of family life. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMore than a historical overview, the book also considers the development of same-sex marriage as a political and legal issue in our time. \u003ci\u003eStates of Union\u003c\/i\u003e is a groundbreaking volume that explains how family came to be \"in\" the Constitution, what it has meant for family to be constitutionally significant, and what the implications of that significance are for the constitutional order and for families.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Mark E. Brandon\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0700619232\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780700619238\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University Press of Kansas\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/17\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 352\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.50lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.30h x 6.40w x 1.30d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/15\/2013 pg. 116\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/01\/2014","brand":"Mark E. Brandon","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44566884450559,"sku":"9780700619238","price":54.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_e41c491a-8663-492e-9438-fe6c41591214.jpg?v=1701374904","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/states-of-union-mark-e-brandon-9780700619238","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}