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This amendment states that excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Minsky used the book Forlorn Hope: The Prison Reform Movement by Larry E. Sullivan to illustrate this point. He notes that during the 1990's the drive toward prison reform reversed. Prison libraries were closed, chain gangs and striped uniforms came back, and prison populations increased. The book is bound in stripes with the word "CONVICT" on the back cover, printed inkjet on canvas, and is chained to a miniature jail cell of painted wood.According to an interview of Richard Minsky by Bob Andelman on http://vimeo.com/36516102, only nine copies of this book object were produced even though 25 copies were planned. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

Scope and Contents Richard Minsky created the bookbinding and box for the poetic text written by Mitch Cullin entitled "Branches." The book was published by The Permanent Press. The illustrations were done by Ryuzo Kikushima. The front cover is punctured with five bullet holes. The cover consists of a sheriff's badge pinned to a shirt pocket and a name badge with the word "Branches." The box is affixed with a black gun leather holster on which the fifth amendment of the constitution is printed in gold, lowercase, italic text. The title of the book refers to the protagonist in the autobiographical poem, I.A.C. Branches, a bigoted Texas Sheriff, who uses his authority and gun without remorse to rape, torture gays, and shoot Mexican border intruders. The fifth amendment states that no person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual...

Scope and Contents Richard Minsky burnt a paperback copy of The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie and enclosed it within a reliquary he created using photoshop and an Epson inkjet printer to print on paper. Minsky used classical Islamic designs from "The Grammar of Ornament" by Owen Jones. The interlaced patterns relate to Islamic fundamentalism and the opened design spaces were incorporated by Minsky. Also included are two special stained glass windows on either side of the reliquary, through which the burnt book can be seen. Therefore the work becomes untouchable and is martyred like a saint. The first amendment relates to respecting the rights of religions, freedom of the press, the right of peaceful assembling and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. As Minsky noted on his WEB site, upon publication the author lost the freedoms of Press, Religion, Speech and Assembly in some countries. The Fatwah issued on Rushdie, and the...

Scope and Contents The Fourth Amendment concerns the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures. Richard Minsky describes his version on this amendment on his website. Regarding the enclosed book, Neuromancer, "The novel that introduced us to Cyberspace. Every day there are more issues about government searches of our emails, web habits, and hard drives. You can read about the implications at The Electronic Frontier Foundation and Quest of the Unquietmind. The book was originally issued as a paperback in 1984 and received major awards for science fiction writing. The binding is in limp black leather, to preserve the soft feel of the paperback. A shuriken (Ninja throwing star) is on the cover, and is an image that appears throughout the text. The pink slipcase has the text of the fourth amendment hot-stamped in hologram foil on one side. The hologram makes the text appear as colored digital code...

Scope and Contents Minsky's contribution to this trade edition book is the bookbinding and end papers that deal with the tragic death of Princess Diana. The amendment deals with the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people: The Right to Privacy. Minsky notes that we all assume we have a right to privacy, but every day that right seems to diminish. From our personal data on the internet to telemarketing at dinnertime, we are barraged. And that's just the tip of it. This book identifies many serious legal issues surrounding privacy considerations. When people become public figures the violation of privacy becomes extreme. Occasionally those of us not in the public eye are reminded just how dangerous and invasive the thirst for vicarious living can be. The binding is an inkjet print on canvas of Princess Diana, with tabloid headlines on the back cover and endpapers with photos of her wrecked car. It comes in a velour...

Scope and Contents The Second Amendment, printed on the book covering label, states "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." Minsky has bound a copy of Gathering Storm: America's Militia Threat by Morris Dees with James Corcoran. On his web site, Minsky describes this work as follows: " Morris Dees is the Chief Trial Counsel of the Southern Poverty Law Center. This book documents the hate group roots of the militia movement. Dees is intimately familiar with the players. Militia spokesman and former Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon Louis Beam was prosecuted by Dees when he led the KKK intimidation of Vietnamese fishermen in Texas. Dees' office was firebombed, and his commitment to freedom has made him a target of racist assassins. The front endpaper (detail, left: inkjet and gold leaf on Rives BFK) is an image of the author as a target. The halo is gold leaf, as in...

Scope and Contents The Seventh Amendment states, "In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed $20, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law." Minsky bound a copy of The Litigation Explosion: What Happened When America Unleashed the Lawsuit by Walter K. Olson.Minsky writes in his web site description of the Bill of Rights series, "In 1789 twenty dollars went a long way. Since the 1970's, 'civil' lawsuits have flooded the judicial systm. Now a multibillion dollar business, the litigation industry proceeds on flimsy pretexts, preceding a search for evidence. The spine of the binding is gold leather with the title foilstamped in silver(neither is the genuine metal). The gold and silver make it hard to decipher. the covers appear to be a collage of $20 bills, but closer examination reveals them to be...

Scope and Contents Richard Minsky bound a copy of The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson with a black leather, left handed glove stained red to resemble blood on the fingertips. The first and last pages contain an illustration of Simpson putting on the glove at his trial. The defense played this as a "race card" that Minsky designed to fit the slogan" If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit." The Sixth Amendment states, "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed..."Minsky notes that his was the most public trial in history, with many questions about the jury, witnesses and defense counsel. It occupied the television networks day and night. Before the trial began, the author wrote in The New Yorker that the defense would play the "race card" and claim Mark Fuhrman was a racist who...

Scope and Contents The tenth amendment states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." Minsky's website describes his work, USSC No. 00-949, as "the decision of the Supreme Court in the landmark case that determined the outcome of the 2000 election, Bush vs. Gore. This ruling, overturning a decision of the Florida Supreme Court, is arguably the most significant Federal intervention in states' rights in modern history." The texts used were of the Justices' concurring and dissenting opinions issued on the Supreme Court website on December 12, 2000. Minsky has intentionally reversed the black and red labels on the spine of the book and printed the title slightly unevenly so that the classic law book seems "disturbing and somewhat crooked."According to an interview of Richard Minsky by Bob Andelman on http://vimeo.com/36516102, only nine copies of this book object were produced even...

Scope and Contents The third amendment states, "No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law." The book is a copy of Seven Days in May by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II and is accompanied by a DVD of the movie in an attache case with a handcuff attached. According to Minsky's web-site, "The third amendment set a clear boundary on military authority. In this classic story the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is seeking to quarter himself in the White House."As Minsky notes, "Seven Days in May" by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey, with a DVD of the film starring Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas, directed by John Frankenheimer, screenplay by Rod Serling is pertinent to this amendment. The Third Amendment sets a clear boundary on military authority. In this classic story the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is...

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The text printed on the red umbrella is by Robert Louis Stevenson. The colophon is printed on a circular paper fastened to the tip of the umbrella. It states that this edition is dedicated to Judith A. Hoffberg, whose passion for artists' books led her to become the Founder and Editor of Umbrella, a resource for news and documentation of contemporary book art since 1978. Judith is co-founder of The Art Librarians Society of North America (ARLIS/NA). -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.