Justice - Hardcover

by Dyanna Morrison (Author)

What would happen if our founding fathers, Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Adams, Madison and Franklin, who wrote the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights could watch today's courtroom proceedings and debate the meaning of the freedoms they created? Justice is a theatrically bold, thought-provoking courtroom drama that brings constitutional history, political theatre, and contemporary legal conflict together through the story of newly seated Judge Grace Porter. As Grace presides over two emotionally charged First Amendment cases, the courtroom becomes a meeting place between present-day law and America's founding era, as seen through the eyes of "the guys who wrote the stuff." Through one-way windows, on center stage, the nation's founding fathers watch history unravel in a nation still reckoning with its founding ideals. They observe the proceedings, offering documented ideas, raucous debate, and perspectives that illuminate the Constitution and Bill of Rights. The first case is drawn upon the January 20, 2017, inauguration protests and resulting arrests in Washington, D.C. The second is inspired by the tragic events surrounding the 2017 Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally. Together, the cases raise challenging questions about free speech, peaceful assembly, public safety, constitutional interpretation, equality, liberty, and civic responsibility. Grounded in more than two decades of research, Justice incorporates much of the founding fathers' documented language and writings, allowing history to become an active participant in a modern legal drama. Judge Grace Porter must weigh the evidence before her while confronting the enduring question of how the principles of America's founding documents should be interpreted today. For readers interested in constitutional law, American history, legal drama, political theatre, the First Amendment, and the continuing conversation about justice and liberty, Justice offers an unusual bridge between the courtroom of today and the debates of America's founding generation and was a finalist in multiple literary competitions, including the Book Excellence Awards, National Indie Excellence Awards, International Book Awards, and Best Book Awards in the Performing Arts category. Justice ends not with a verdict, but with a provocation: the American experiment is not over!

The next book/play in the trilogy, Liberty, is also completed and allows our founding fathers a glimpse into contemporary interpretations of The Second Amendment and the need for sensible gun control legislation!