Biography of Susan Shelley

Susan Shelley is the author of three books on the U.S. Constitution -- "The 37th Amendment" is a novel about doing away with "due process of law" and the fight in the future over whether to bring it back; "How the First Amendment Came to Protect Topless Dancing" is a history of the Bill of Rights up to the present day; and "Uncle Sam's Nickel: the Five Percent Flat Tax that will Restore Freedom and Prosperity" is a proposal for a constitutional amendment to replace the federal income tax with a five percent flat tax.

“The 37th Amendment” and “How the First Amendment Came to Protect Topless Dancing” are on the shelves of the Tarlton Law Library at the University of Texas, the O’Quinn Law Library at the University of Houston, the Social Law Library in Boston, the Michael E. Moritz Law Library at Ohio State, and the Barbara and Maurice Deane Law Library at Hofstra University. They have been acquired by many university, state college and public libraries across the United States and in Canada and New Zealand. Often used by home-school and online high school government classes, the books were also on the reading list in a class on wrongful convictions in Northern Arizona University’s Department of Criminology and a class on due process of law at Moorpark College taught by retired LAPD Captain Nick Zingo.

Drawing on the research for the books, Susan wrote newspaper op-ed articles and a blog about issues related to constitutional rights. She became personally involved in politics in 2010 as the volunteer director of communications for Republican Congressional candidate David Benning. In 2012, she ran for Congress herself against rival Democratic incumbents Howard Berman and Brad Sherman, winning the endorsements of the Los Angeles Daily News, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the California Republican League. At the urging of many community leaders, Susan ran for the California Assembly in a 2013 special election and came within 329 votes of victory in a district where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a two-to-one margin.

Born in Chicago, Susan is the daughter of the late character actor Dave Shelley and moved with her family to Los Angeles when she was in high school. She graduated with honors from El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from California State University, Northridge, graduating magna cum laude. She went to work in the television industry, first as an executive secretary and then a production assistant for Merv Griffin Enterprises, becoming the Associate Producer of the game show "Jeopardy!" and eventually going on to be a full-time writer.

Susan can be contacted by e-mail at Susan@SusanShelley.com and by phone at 818-22-SUSAN [818-227-8726].