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Garrett Epps

Garrett Epps is a contributing editor at The American Prospect. He is a former reporter for The Washington Post and a professor of law at the University of Baltimore. His most recent book is Democracy Reborn: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Fight for Equal Rights in Post-Civil War America.

Recent Articles

In Prop. 8 Ruling, a Liberal Lion Coos

Garrett EppsFeb 07, 2012

Stephen Reinhardt, a judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, has been called almost everything in the book. Conservatives slaver at the mention of his name; even liberals sometimes criticize his audacity. The Onion once ran a deadpan story reporting that he had “ruled the private celebration of Christmas unconstitutional ... ‘[i]n accordance with my activist agenda to secularize the nation.’”

The Constitution: A Love Story

It's time for liberals to reclaim our founding document from fanatics who worship its name but not its meaning.

Garrett EppsOct 17, 2011

When the 112th House of Representatives opened this past January with a reading of the United States Constitution, the intended political message was clear—the Republican Party was back to rescue the Constitution.

Less clear was what Constitution Republicans were vowing to save. The version they ordered read was, in fact, stripped of language the leadership considered “superseded by amendment,” even though those measures are still in the text. Some are embarrassing. The provisions protecting slavery, for example, call into question the infallibility of the Founding Fathers. Since one of the standard conservative talking points is that the “original intent” of the framers is an infallible guide to wisdom, the fallible parts were better left unmentioned.

Beware: Judges With a Vision

The Supreme Court's historic role has been to slow, not accelerate, social reform.

Garrett EppsSep 19, 2011

In 1940, a small group of children, bullied by intolerant adults, sought the protection of the United States Supreme Court. The nation's highest court spat in their faces. The results were so violent and tragic that the Court reversed itself three years later, trying to call a halt to the injustice it had spawned.

This story--the story of Minersville School District v. Gobitis and West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette--still teaches lessons today about the quality of justice, the character of judges, and the role of courts in spurring, or retarding, social change.

Unlawful Entry

Garrett EppsSep 30, 2003

Ask the average TV writer what word he associates with "evil" and the answer is likely not to be "Milosevic" or "Enron" but "private law firm." TV writers don't really know what goes on in the plush offices of big firms, but they know it's bad. No less a cultural indicator than acclaimed scriptwriter Joss Whedon, seeking the focus of evil in Los Angeles for his heroic-vampire drama Angel, created a megafirm called Wolfram and Hart, with lawyers so vicious that their clients -- werewolves, demons and assorted soul-stealers -- were afraid to be alone with them.

Native American TV

Garrett EppsMay 23, 2003

One of television's persistent puzzles is why the United States, which essentially invented the medium, has taken so long to master televised high narrative. For 30 years, the British have been churning out Masterpiece Theatre miniseries that satisfy the inner soap fan while also teasing the intellect. Only in the last few years, however, with shows like The Sopranos or Six Feet Under, have Americans begun to play and win that game.

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