Pasquale Scopelliti
@ThyConsigliori
About David Shestokas
"If you’re going to read ONLY one book on the founding of America it should be this."
I have a point or two I look forward to debating with the author of this phenomenal book. I can’t share them here, and here’s why not. Every single American should read this book, and that’s more important than any minor point of debate.
Why did President Trump win? Why did MAGA, Make America Great Again, resonate? What was lost? How did we become great in the first place?
These questions and so many more are answered in this extraordinary book as in no other I’ve ever read.
We are the first nation founded in law, and law based upon the equality of all citizens. Where the Constitution develops that law into practice, the basis of the law of our founding is in the Declaration.
If that sounds dry, or merely intellectual, allow me correct the emotion. There were two great men, Richard Henry Lee and Thomas Jefferson, each of whom staked life, limb, wealth and reputation on this endeavor. The author gives us their stories moment by moment in page turning prose. You’re in a time machine, and are able to observe the creation of the Declaration in real time. Did you know that treason was punished by the British empire with hanging – but that’s only the beginning and they take you down before you’re dead – and then…well, if you’re interested in the gory details you need to read the book!
The point is, when we say life and limb were on the line, we’re not exaggerating!
For all the excitement, and the pure human drama, under it all lies the most powerful dream for a nation, and the greatest turning point in civilization’s history.
The key to America’s greatness is equality under the law. The reason we lost so much of our greatness is the failure to live by that principle. If we are to reclaim it, we’d best come to understand it, better than ever before. This wonderful book empowers exactly that.
Get it. Read it. Share it. Our future depends upon it.
David Shestokas earned his B.A. in Political Science from Bradley University in 1975 and his Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School, cum laude, in June of 1987. In 1986-87 he served on The John Marshall Law Review. He studied law at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.
Mr. Shestokas has been admitted to practice law before the Illinois Supreme Court in 1987, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 1988, the Supreme Court of Florida in 2004, and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida in 2006.
Mr. Shestokas founded the Law Office of David Shestokas in November, 1987. After practicing in areas such as criminal defense, corporate law, real estate, and business financing, he later served as Assistant State’s Attorney for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in Chicago, IL, from 1994 to 1998, involved in over 10,000
criminal prosecutions. During that time he also worked on the Felony Review Unit, participating in police investigations and making charging decisions in over 400 felony matters.
In 1992, after the Republic of Lithuania regained its independence from the Soviet Union, Shestokas joined attorneys of Lithuanian heritage from around the world as a member of the First World Congress of Lithuanian Lawyers. The Lithuanian President, government officials, and the Lithuanian Bar worked with that Congress to restore the rule of law and a constitutional government after four generations of Soviet occupation.
Along with volunteering at the Salvation Army providing pro bono legal services for the homeless, David has also given his time at the Quality Life Center to educate at-risk youth about the values ingrained in America’s Founding.
His latest book, Creating the Declaration of Independence, takes you into the minds of Richard Henry Lee, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in the weeks before July 4, 1776. Experience Lee’s trepidation as he knows when he proposes American Independence to the Second Continental Congress that he is literally risking beheading. Join Adams and Jefferson at City Tavern as they begin crafting the Declaration and follow the story of how Jefferson came to reluctantly draft the Declaration when few others, including Adams thought that Jefferson’s assignment was important. You’ll even learn a shortcut Jefferson used to craft a document of such immortality on such short notice and how that short cut affects the work of the Supreme Court today.
He has worked with Dr. Berta Isabel Arias on the Spanish language translation of Constitutional Sound Bites: Cápsulas Informativas Constitucionales . This work represents, in a format that modern media consumers prefer, a long tradition of informing citizens about the country’s founding documents in their native languages. In 1787, fully one third of Pennsylvania’s residents were German speakers. Accordingly, of the 4500 copies of the proposed
Constitution that legislature ordered, 1500 were printed in German. Everyone understands important ideas best in their native language, and Cápsulas Informativas
Constitucionales recognizes the growing importance of making available crucial aspects of America’s Founding and Heritage to this growing community of Spanish speakers in America.