New book from Michael Perry: A Global Political Morality |

Michael J. Perry, one of the nation's prominent scholars in human rights and constitutional law, defends the political morality of human rights in his new book, A Global Political Morality: Human Rights, Democracy, and Constitutionalism (Cambridge University Press, 2017). Perry explains the term human right and then defends the morality of human rights, which he identifies as the first global morality in human history. He explores the implications of the morality of human rights for domestic governance and for the proper role of courts, especially the U.S. Supreme Court, in protecting human rights. He discusses current constitutional controversies such as capital punishment, race-based affirmative action, same-sex marriage, physician-assisted suicide, and abortion.

Mark Tushnet, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, writes: "Perry's explanation of how courts can enforce substantive human rights without undermining the human right to democratic self-government is a significant contribution to his already distinguished body of work."

Perry has held a Robert W. Woodruff University Chair at Emory University since 2003. He teaches at Emory Law and is a fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, a co-editor of the Journal of Law and Religion, and the author of 12 books and more than 85 articles, essays, and book chapters.