Constitutional Democracy, Human Dignity, and Entrenched Evil

The following essay pays tribute to Sandy Levinson\u27s thoughts on constitutional compromises by paying tribute to the thoughts on constitutional compromises by our common mentor, Walter Murphy. Rather than directly engage in a dialogue with Compromise and Constitutionalism, the analysis below joins the preexisting dalogue between Professors Levinson and Murphy on how to construct a decent polity among people who have deep disputes over what constitutes political decency. Walter Murphy is unfortunately largely known to legal audiences only through the work of such outstanding mentees as Sandy Levinson, Jim Fleming, Christopher Eisgruber, Andrew Koppelman, Jennifer Nedelsky, and Robert George. Walter Murphys\u27s Constitutional Democracy and other magnificent opuses merit close reading. Law professors should not rest content with learning about one of the most important constitutional thinkers of our time only through the work of his students