About 15 years ago I wrote a book about crime, tackling the knotty problem of how "technicalities" based on the Bill of Rights could end up excusing people of ancient crimes like robbery and murder. The problem, I found, was the tendency of judges and lawyers to elevate the Constitution to Holy Writ. Murder, rape, and other crimes, you see, are only statutory offenses. There's nothing in the Constitution that says you can't kill someone. On the other hand, if a murderer argues that he wasn't read his Miranda warnings three times in the language of his choice, he is...