Kenneth Pennington

Ministers of the Law

Philosophy

“Ministers of the Law is a stunning and compelling argument for the importance of the history of Western legal thought for the jurisprudence of political authority. Jean Porter demonstrates with impressive learning that European jurists before the age of legal positivism had placed clear and absolute boundaries on the authority and power of rulers and magistrates. These boundaries were defined by the rights of human beings that transcended the 'rule of law' and constitutions. This book should be required reading for every American constitutional scholar and, in particular, every American Supreme Court justice.”