An Introduction to Constitutional Law teaches the narrative of constitutional law as it has developed historically and provides the essential background to understand how this foundational body of law has come to be what it is today. This multimedia experience combines a book and video series to engage students more directly in the study of constitutional law. All students—even those unfamiliar with American history—will garner a firm understanding of how constitutional law has evolved. An eleven-hour online video library brings the Supreme Court’s most important decisions to life. Videos are enriched by photographs, maps, and audio from the Supreme Court. The book and videos are accessible for all levels: law school, college, high school, home school, and independent study. Students can read and watch these materials before class to prepare for lectures or study after class to fill in any gaps in their notes. And, come exam time, students can binge-watch the entire canon of constitutional law in about twelve hours.
Slavery, segregation, abortion, workers' rights, the power of the courts. These issues have been at the heart of the greatest constitutional controversies in American history. And in this concise and thought-provoking volume, some of today's most distinguished legal scholars and commentators explain for a general audience how five landmark Supreme Court cases centered on those controversies shaped the country's destiny and continue to affect us even now. The book is a profound exploration of the Supreme Court's importance to America's social and political life. It is also, as many of the contributors show, an intriguing reflection of what some have seen as an important trend in legal scholarship away from an uncritical belief in the essentially benign nature of judicial power. Robert George opens with an illuminating survey of the themes that unite and divide the five cases. Other contributors then examine each case in detail through a lively commentary-and-response format. Mark Tushnet and Jeremy Waldron exchange views on Marbury v. Madison, the pivotal 1803 case that established the power of the courts to invalidate legislation. Cass Sunstein and James McPherson discuss Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), the notorious case that confirmed the rights of slaveowners, declared that black people could not be American citizens, and is often seen as a cause of the Civil War. Hadley Arkes and Donald Drakeman explore the legacy of Lochner v. New York (1905), a case that ushered in decades of judicial hostility to social welfare laws. Earl Maltz and Walter Murphy assess Brown v. Topeka Board of Education (1954), the famous case that ended racial segregation in public schools. Finally, Jean Bethke Elshtain and George Will tackle Roe v. Wade (1973), still a flashpoint a quarter of a century later in the debate over abortion. While some of the contributors show sympathy for strong judicial interventions on social issues, many across the ideological spectrum are sharply critical of judicial activism. A compelling introduction to the greatest cases in U.S. constitutional law, this is also an enlightening glimpse of the state of the art in American legal scholarship.
First published in 1954, this indispensable reference quickly became the gold standard for concise summaries of important U.S. Supreme Court cases. The only reference guide to Supreme Court cases organized both topically and chronologically within chapters so that readers understand how cases fit into a historical context, the 15th edition has been extensively revised to ensure that it remains the most up-to-date resource available. An essential resource for law students, lawyers, and everyone interested in our nation's Constitution and the Supreme Court decisions that explicate it.
Introduction to the Colombian constitution of 1991 and the Constitutional Court -- The role of the Constitutional Court -- Dignity and autonomy -- Equality -- Freedom of speech and freedom of religion -- Social rights -- The rights of victims and transitional justice -- The rights of indigenous peoples -- The president : problems of executive overreach -- The congress : problems of abdication and deliberation -- Constitutional amendment and the substitution of the constitution doctrine.
To view or download the 2020 Supplement to this book click here. Constitutional Law: Cases, Approaches, and Applications is a succinct and careful presentation of canonical constitutional law cases and important constitutional law statements from the political branches. Additionally, its annual supplement includes material based on recent appellate cases applying Supreme Court constitutional doctrine. Its main features include: Relatively longer excerpts of relatively fewer cases, carefully edited to preserve citations to relevant precedent. This feature allows professors to engage students about appropriate use of precedent. The book also includes note material that connects the featured cases, thus providing the students with a comprehensive explanation of the law in a manageable number of pages. Thematic, as well as topical, organization, which allows professors to explore particular jurisprudential approaches. For example, much of the equal protection material is organized around the Court's use, and eventual abandonment, of suspect class analysis. An annual supplement that, in addition to excerpting the Supreme Court's most recent constitutional law opinions, also features appellate cases applying the Court's constitutional law doctrines, in the form of excerpts, notes, or problems. This feature helps students understand how the Court's often-vague statements of constitutional law are actually applied. It also teaches the fundamental (but often-unlearned) reality that practicing lawyers need to know not just what the Supreme Court has said about a particular issue, but how the relevant lower court jurisdiction has understood that statement. Moreover, providing these cases as problems allows students to work through the implications of a Supreme Court decision in a concrete, real-life context.
Dorf's Constitutional Law Stories provides a student with an understanding of 15 leading U.S. constitutional law cases. It focuses on how lawyers, judges, and socioeconomic factors shaped the litigation, and why the cases have attained landmark status. This book is suitable for adoption as a supplement in an introductory constitutional law course or as a text for an advanced seminar.
Buy a new version of this Connected Casebook and receive access to the online e-book, practice questions from your favorite study aids, and an outline tool on CasebookConnect, the all in one learning solution for law school students. CasebookConnect offers you what you need most to be successful in your law school classes - portability, meaningful feedback, and greater efficiency. Constitutional Rights: Cases in Context, Second Edition places primary emphasis on how constitutional law has developed since the Founding, its key foundational principles, and recurring debates. By providing both cases and context, it conveys the competing narratives that all lawyers ought to know and all constitutional practitioners need to know. Teachable, manageable, class-sized chunks of material are suited to one-semester courses or reduced credit configurations. Generous case excerpts make the text flexible for most courses. Cases are judiciously supplemented with background readings from various sources. Innovative study guide questions presented before each case help students focus on the salient issues, challenging them to consider the court's opinions from various perspectives, and suggesting comparisons or connections with other cases. Key Benefits: Revised doctrinal areas with newer cases. Updated background contextual material to reflect current scholarship. A highly accessible and engaging structure that examines the competing narratives that pervade the development of American constitutional law since the founding. Related cases are grouped together into "assignments" and make for a reasonable amount of reading for each topic. A wealth of photographs, maps, and primary documents to bring the cases to life. CasebookConnect features: ONLINE E-BOOK Law school comes with a lot of reading, so access your enhanced e-book anytime, anywhere to keep up with your coursework. Highlight, take notes in the margins, and search the full text to quickly find coverage of legal topics. PRACTICE QUESTIONS Quiz yourself before class and prep for your exam in the Study Center. Practice questions from Examples & Explanations, Emanuel Law Outlines, Emanuel Law in a Flash flashcards, and other best-selling study aid series help you study for exams while tracking your strengths and weaknesses to help optimize your study time. OUTLINE TOOL Most professors will tell you that starting your outline early is key to being successful in your law school classes. The Outline Tool automatically populates your notes and highlights from the e-book into an editable format to accelerate your outline creation and increase study time later in the semester.
