Securing Constitutional Democracy: The Case of Autonomy. By James E. Fleming. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2006. 272p. $45.00.

James Fleming's excellent book offers a compelling interpretation of the U.S. Constitution as protecting not only the political liberties required for democratic citizenship but also the substantive liberties of the person, commonly referred to as privacy or autonomy rights. Fleming advances his theory both through engagement with the views of other legal scholars and through detailed analysis of the opinions filed in various U.S. Supreme Court cases, most notably several recent ones concerning the rights of homosexuals, with considerable attention also paid to cases concerning abortion or discrimination on grounds of race or sex. Fans of Justice Antonin Scalia will find much in this book with which to disagree.