Book Reviews

• The Challenge of Same-Sex Marriage: Federalist Principles and Constitutional Protections
• Hate Speech, Pornography, and the Radical Attack on Free Speech Doctrine
• Revolutionary Women in the War for American Independence
• To review a book

This book is an ambitious attempt at analyzing the constitutionality of same-sex marriage laws and legislation. What makes this book interesting is its ability to take this controversial issue and constrain it within the confines of legal theories. And perhaps, this is what is needed for such a topic.

The introduction outlines each chapter, which is useful in helping tie together several of the theories put forth. Strasser hashes out relevant issues within the same-sex marriage debate: same-sex marriages promoting the same individual and state interests that opposite-sex marriages promote; and same-sex marriage bans implicating equal protection guarantees and the Full Faith and Credit clause forcing other states to recognize same-sex marriages. The Hawaii Supreme Court and Alaska trial court holdings that their respective states' same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional become the backdrop for each discussion. In the latter part of the text, Strasser discusses the Natural Law critique of same-sex marriages and the constitutionality of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

It seems as if Strasser is trying to convince the reader that banning same-sex marriages would be against current state and federal constitutions. But as this review is being written, state legislators are trying to amend their constitutions to ban same-sex marriages. At this point, is constitutionality still relevant or is there a bigger picture? Nevertheless, The Challenge of Same-Sex Marriage is a well-documented (selected bibliography of the cases and an index for quick referencing) examination of important legal principles in the same-sex marriage debate.

However, the issue is more complex than Strasser's book would have the reader believe.

James Weinstein's is a moderate voice in a debate that sets civil rights advocates at each others' throats. His book is a respectful critique of "radical" arguments for banning racist speech and pornography, introduced by a concise summary of free speech theory and recent U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence.

Weinstein's radicals - notably Mari Matsuda, Richard Delgado, and Charles Lawrence on race, and Catherine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin on pornography - argue that current law perpetuates discrimination, while hiding behind a flawed notion of neutrality. Weinstein does not totally disagree, but he ultimately rejects any significant doctrinal change. While the First Amendment could withstand a narrowly drawn ban on racist insults (without fear of the "slippery slope"), Weinstein questions how much we would gain. Censorship of racists often backfires because it gives them attention, while subtler and more pervasive racist speech could not be banned because it cannot be distinguished effectively from core political discourse.

Similarly, Weinstein argues that we could ban more hard-core pornography than we do, without weakening the First Amendment. But this would not satisfy the MacKinnon-Dworkin radicals, who target all pornographic pictures or writing if they "demean" or "subordinate" women. Weinstein finds these concepts hopelessly subjective. Among the ironies the author notes is that hate speech laws are used against minorities and that Andrea Dworkin's own novel was one of the first "pornographic" books Canada banned after adopting the MacKinnon-Dworkin approach.

Weinstein writes clearly and for a broad audience. Liberal use of headings and footnotes allows for a fly-over tour of the arguments, or a more detailed study of the literature and case law. While more academic than practical, this short volume is an excellent primer on free speech theory and an insightful look at one of the First Amendment's most interesting and contentious debates.

Reporting on a facet of the Revolutionary War which is little studied, Lincoln Diamant's edited version of Elizabeth Ellet's 1848 work is an interesting picture of the role women played in the war for independence. Women throughout the colonies, both for and against independence, willingly sacrificed their luxuries, necessities, and lives on behalf of their chosen cause. History books have neglected the effects of the war on the families who remained at home or who traveled with the companies of soldiers. This book provides enlightenment on this area of our history.

Categorized by Colony, Revolutionary Women includes brief stories of several women from each Colony. The featured women vary from those who silently, but diligently, performed all manner of work in order to support the war effort to women who actively participated in message delivery, espionage, and battle. The book intentionally includes famous and powerful women as well as women of average means, demonstrating the effects of the war upon all members of society.

Although the book's writing style is much more formal than our current historical writing styles, the grammar and subject matter is light enough not to interfere with the reader's enjoyment. Most objectionable may be the determined portrayal of women as the "weaker" and "more delicate" sex. However, considering that this book was published originally in the mid-19th century, one must overlook this treatment of women in order to appreciate one of the few works actually willing to focus on the important role women played during this period of our history.

Revolutionary Women in the War for American Independence is an enjoyable read and will provide a more rounded understanding of daily life and the role of women during the war for independence.

Wisconsin Lawyer