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August, 2020 | CQ Press

Constitutional Law for a Changing America

A Short Course

Eighth Edition
Lee J. Epstein - USC Gould School of Law
Thomas G. Walker - Emory University, USA
Kevin T. McGuire - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
816 pages | August, 2020 | CQ Press
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ISBN: 9781544390642
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“Excellent balance of case excerpts and author explanation, highly appropriate for undergraduate students.”
—Dr. Wendy Brame, Briar Cliff University

Political factors influence judicial decisions. Arguments and input from lawyers and interest groups, the ebb and flow of public opinion, and especially the ideological and behavioral inclinations of the justices all combine to shape the development of constitutional doctrine. Drawing on political science as much as from legal studies, Constitutional Law for a Changing America: A Short Course helps students realize that Supreme Court cases are more than just legal names and citations. With meticulous revising, the authors streamline material while accounting for recent landmark cases and new scholarship.

Ideal for a one semester course, the Eighth Edition of A Short Course offers all the hallmarks of the Rights and Powers volumes in a more condensed format. Students and instructors benefit from the online Con Law Resource Center which houses the supplemental case archive, links to CQ Press reference materials, a moot court simulation, instructor resources, and more.

Attention Instructors! Use the following bundle ISBN to ensure your students have FREE access to the regularly updated resource center featuring over 100 excerpted cases.

Get FREE access to online resources—use bundle ISBN: 978-1-0718-3225-7


Included with this title:

The password-protected Instructor Resource Site (formally known as SAGE Edge) offers access to all text-specific resources, including a test bank and editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides. Learn more.
 

Chronological Table of Cases
Tables, Figures, and Boxes
Preface
Acknowledgments
PART 1. THE U.S. CONSTITUTION
An Introduction to the U.S. Constitution
The Road to the U.S. Constitution
Underlying Principles of the Constitution

The Amendment Process
Constitutional Change and the Supreme Court
Annotated Readings

Processing Supreme Court Cases
Supreme Court Decision Making: Legalism
Supreme Court Decision Making: Realism
Conducting Research on the Supreme Court
Annotated Readings
PART 2. INSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY
Structuring the Federal System
Origins of the Separation of Powers/Checks and Balances System
Separation of Powers and the Constitution

Establishment of the Federal Judiciary
Judicial Review
Constraints on Judicial Power
Constraints on Judicial Power and the Separation of Powers System
Annotated Readings

Article I: Historical Overview
Members of Congress: Qualifications, Immunity, and Discipline
The Sources and Scope of Legislative Powers
Congress and the Separation of Powers
Annotated Readings

The Structure of the Presidency
Constitutional Authority of the President
The Domestic Powers of the President
Powers over Foreign Affairs
Annotated Readings
PART 3. NATION-STATE RELATIONS
Allocating Government Power
The Framers and Federalism
The Tenth and Eleventh Amendments

Federal Power, State Sovereignty, and the Tenth Amendment
The Post–Civil War Era and the Return of Dual Federalism
The (Re)Emergence of National Supremacy: Cooperative Federalism
Return of (a Milder Form of) Dual Federalism
The Eleventh Amendment
Annotated Readings

Foundations of the Commerce Power
Attempts to Define the Commerce Power in the Wake of the Industrial Revolution
The Supreme Court and the New Deal
The Era of Expansive Commerce Clause Jurisprudence
Limits on the Commerce Power: The Republican Court Era
Annotated Readings

The Constitutional Power to Tax and Spend
Direct Taxes and the Power to Tax Income
Intergovernmental Tax Immunity
Taxation as a Regulatory Power
Taxing and Spending for the General Welfare
Annotated Readings
PART 4. ECONOMIC LIBERTIES
Economic Liberties and Individual Rights

The Framers and the Contract Clause
John Marshall and the Contract Clause
The Decline of the Contract Clause
Modern Applications of the Contract Clause
Annotated Readings

The Development of Substantive Due Process
The Roller-Coaster Ride of Substantive Due Process: 1898–1923
The Heyday of Substantive Due Process: 1923–1936
The Depression, the New Deal, and the Decline of Economic Substantive Due Process
Substantive Due Process: Contemporary Relevance
Annotated Readings

Protecting Private Property from Government Seizure
What Constitutes a Taking?
Public Use Requirement
What Is Just Compensation?
Annotated Readings
PART 5. CIVIL LIBERTIES
Approaching Civil Liberties

Free Exercise of Religion
Religious Establishment
Annotated Readings

Regulations of the Content of Speech: Punishing Harmful Ideas
Regulations of the Context of Speech: Time, Place, and Manner Restrictions
Annotated Readings

Prior Restraint
News Gathering and Special Rights
The Boundaries of Free Press: Libel, Obscenity, and Emerging Areas of Government Concern
Regulating the Internet
Annotated Readings

Initial Interpretations
The Second Amendment Revisited
Heller and the States
Annotated Readings

The Right to Privacy: Foundations
Reproductive Freedom and the Right to Privacy: Abortion
Private Activities and the Application of Griswold
Annotated Readings
PART 6. THE RIGHTS OF THE CRIMINALLY ACCUSED
The Criminal Justice System and Constitutional Rights
Overview of the Criminal Justice System
Trends in Supreme Court Decision Making

Searches and Seizures
The Fifth Amendment and Self-Incrimination
Annotated Readings

The Right to Counsel
Fair Trials
Trial Proceedings
Sentencing and the Eighth Amendment
Posttrial Stages
Annotated Readings
PART 7. CIVIL RIGHTS
Civil Rights and the Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment

Race Discrimination and the Foundations of Equal Protection
Modern-Day Treatment of Equal Protection Claims
Strict Scrutiny and Claims of Race Discrimination
Heightened Scrutiny and Claims of Gender Discrimination
Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation
Discrimination Based on Economic Status
Annotated Readings

Voting Rights
Contemporary Restrictions on the Right to Vote
Election Campaign Regulation
Political Representation
The 2000 Presidential Election
Annotated Readings
Reference Material
Constitution of the United States
The Justices
Glossary
Online Case Archive List
Case Index
Subject Index
About the Authors

Instructor Resource Center edge.sagepub.com/conlaw

Take your constitutional law class beyond the book with the regularly updated SAGE Edge Con Law Resource Center, featuring more than 100 excerpted, supplemental cases referenced in the commentary of the Constitutional Law for a Changing America volumes. The authors have excerpted each case in the same format as those in the text, featuring the justices’ votes, a summary of case facts, and a carefully edited version of the justices’ opinions.

Online resources included with this text

The online resources for your text are available via the password-protected Instructor Resource Site, which offers access to all text-specific resources, including a test bank and editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides.

Student Resource Center edge.sagepub.com/conlaw

The open-access Student Study Site makes it easy for students to maximize their study time, anywhere, anytime. It offers flashcards that strengthen understanding of key terms and concepts, as well as learning objectives that reinforce the most important material.

For additional information, custom options, or to request a personalized walkthrough of these resources, please contact your sales representative.

NEW TO THIS EDITION:
  • New co-author, Kevin T. McGuire of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, is a meticulous U.S Supreme Court scholar, bringing with him years of experience, exquisite writing style, and deep expertise in all topics covered in Constitutional Law for a Changing America.

  • Additional case excerpts have been added The Constitutional Law for a Changing America Resource Center. The archive allows instructors to use additional cases or to substitute favorite cases for those that appear in the printed text. The archive also provides an efficient source of material for students who want to read more deeply into the law and for instructors who wish to direct their students to an easily accessible information source for assignments.

  • Each chapter has been thoroughly updated to include important opinions handed down during the Roberts Court era. Since Chief Justice John Roberts took office in 2005, the Court has taken up many pressing issues of the day, including, health care, same-sex marriage, affirmative action, voting rights, and more.

  • Refreshed aftermath boxes provide students with updates of historically crucial cases. In addition to providing human interest material, they lead to interesting discussions about the Court’s impact on the lives of ordinary Americans—demonstrating to students that Supreme Court cases are more than merely legal names and citations; they involve real people involved in real disputes.

 

KEY FEATURES:

  • Carefully condensed from the Rights and Powers volumes, A Short Course fits the needs for those who teach institutional powers, civil liberties, rights, and justice in a single academic term and those who prefer a shorter core text.

  • The authors approach constitutional law from a social science perspective, demonstrating how many forces—not just legal factors—influence the development of the law.

  • Throughout A Short Course, the authors highlight how relevant political, historical, economic, and social events; personnel changes on the Court; interest groups; and even public opinion may have affected the justices’ decisions, in addition to traditional legal considerations, such as precedent, text, and history.

  • Inclusion of the latest scholarship in the fields of both political science and legal studies helps this book to remain the best political science Constitutional Law textbook on the market.

  • A regularly updated electronic archive includes over 100 supplemental Supreme Court decisions.

  • The authors are known for fastidious revising and streamlining of decisions. A recipient of 12 grants from the National Science Foundation for her work on law and legal institutions, Epstein has authored or co-authored over 100 articles and essays, as well as 15 books, and received the Teaching and Mentoring Award from the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association. Additionally, Thomas G. Walker is the Goodrich C. White Professor of Political Science at Emory University and co-author of A Court Divided, which won the V. O. Key, Jr. Award for the best book on southern politics.