In a controversial 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court last year ruled that detainees held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay had a right under the constitution to challenge their continued detention.

CNN: Obama administration keeps Bush view on Afghanistan detainees

It is an argument so old it is draped in cobwebs, but Professor Winkler examines the growth of " originalism", the belief that the Supreme Court should base its rulings on the intentions of those who wrote the constitution.

BBC: 'Gun fight' over the US constitution

The key change was that the constitution set out to replace all previous treaties, and set out the EU legal base from scratch.

ECONOMIST: European politics

If American policymakers are looking for legal models on which to base new laws restricting immigration and expelling foreign lawbreakers, they have a handy guide: the Mexican constitution.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Mexico's Glass House