Opting Out: Selected Writings of Gerrit H. Wormhoudt.

• Author: Levy, Robert A.

Opting Out: Selected Writings of Gerrit H. Wormhoudt

Michael G. Stratton and Amy C. Lynch, eds.

Ottawa, Ill.: Jameson Books, 2019, 184 pp.

Fifteen years ago, when the United States was helping the Iraqis draft their new constitution, one wag asked, "Why don't we just give 'em ours? It was written by geniuses, it worked well for more than two centuries, and we're not using it anymore." To be sure, constitutional law has evolved during the past decade and a half, but only to reinforce the notion that the legislative and executive branches of the federal government, with the acquiescence of our federal courts, have essentially rewritten key provisions of our founding documents. The effect has been to expand government power and curb individual liberties in a manner never intended by the Framers. That's the core message of Opting Out, a brilliant collection of essays by Gerrit Wormhoudt, with whom I had the privilege of serving on the board of directors of the Institute for Justice, the nation's premier libertarian public interest law firm.

Wormhoudt documents numerous abuses and misinterpretations of the Constitution but tempers his critique with an optimistic assessment: by acknowledging the extent of our constitutional apostasy and resuscitating core principles--limited government, separation of powers, federalism, protection of individual rights, and the rule of law--we can rebuild a coherent legal framework for a free society. Wormhoudt's subtitle--"It All Begins and Ends with Education"--tells us where he would focus primary attention. Opting out of our government-dominated schools would indeed be a critical first step. Along the way, however, Wormhoudt touches on our common-law tradition, the legal profession, tort reform, and even our monetary system. He warns us that "our very minds, like our money and law, have become government-issue." And he advises us to "opt out of the morally and constitutionally dubious programs and regulations supposedly imposed [for our] benefit." Here are just a few of the ailments that Wormhoudt highlights.

On the Living Constitution. At college, writes Wormhoudt, "we learned that the Constitution had always been a living thing." Yet many, if not most, jurists, including those now sitting on the U.S. Supreme Court, embrace originalism--the polar opposite of the so-called living constitution. The Constitution was not intended to be a malleable guide to modernity. Instead, the words actually in the document...