The Legal Theory Bookworm recommends A Life for Liberty: The Making of an American Originalist by Randy E. Barnett. Here is a description:
From prosecuting murderers in Chicago, to arguing before the Supreme Court, to authoring more than a dozen books, Georgetown University law professor Randy Barnett has played an integral role in the rise of originalism—the movement to identify, restore, and defend the original meaning of the Constitution. Thanks in part to his efforts, by 2018 a majority of sitting Supreme Court justices self-identified as “originalists.”
After writing seminal books on libertarianism and contract law, Barnett pivoted to constitutional law. His mission to restore "the lost Constitution" took him from the schoolhouse to the courthouse, where he argued the medical marijuana case of Gonzeles v. Raich in the Supreme Court—a case now taught to every law student. Later, he devised and spearheaded the constitutional challenge to Obamacare.
All this earned him major profiles in such publications as the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times. Now he recounts his compelling journey from a working-class kid in Calumet City, Illinois to “Washington Power Breaker,” as the Congressional Quarterly Weekly called him.
The engaging story of his rise from obscurity to one of the most influential thinkers in America is an inspiring how-to guide for anyone seeking real-world advancement of justice and liberty for all.
And from the reviews:
Law professors with a strong commitment to liberty and the Constitution are all too rare. That’s right, I said it. Randy Barnett has walked the walk as well as talked the talk. In this book, he shows how it’s done. He developed the theory of constitutional originalism, devised the constitutional challenge to Obamacare, proposed a constitutional amendment to limit federal power, and fought hard to get originalist justices on the Supreme Court. This is the life story of a great American.—Mark Levin, author of Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto
I admire contrarians, being a card-carrying one myself. But Randy Barnett is in a category by himself. His pioneering contrarianism made it acceptable to believe that the Court should side with liberty against encroachments by both state and federal government. Barnett’s autobiography is a must read.—Rand Paul, US Senator (R-KY), author of The Case Against Socialism
This memoir is an inspiration to all who would wish liberty well, and, more than well wishing, a model for how to live a life of significance in that effort. It is a coherent, indeed compelling, life story because it has been in pursuit of a noble goal: The protection of liberty where it exists and its expansion wherever possible.—Hugh Hewitt, author of The Happiest Life
Fittingly, Randy Barnett, an American original, has produced a book unlike any other. It is a nourishing literary three-deck club sandwich, elegantly blending autobiography, a guide to today’s arguments surrounding jurisprudential originalism, and a participant’s story of how some recent constitutional history was made. Delicious.—George F. Will, author of The Conservative Sensibility
A highly personal and penetrating account of the making of one of the nation’s most powerful voices. At a time of rising intolerance on our college campuses, Randy Barnett has remained unbowed and undeterred. His remarkable journey from a kid raised in Calumet City outside of Chicago to a world-renowned educator and litigator provides a model for young lawyers. It shows how it is possible to overcome personal and professional obstacles in finding your own voice in our profession.—Jonathan Turley, author of The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage
The tale of Randy Barnett's colorful career offers vital insight into nearly every major legal drama in recent memory. It's one thing to be a brilliant legal mind, but Barnett is also one heck of a storyteller.— Mollie Hemmingway, Fox News Contributor
