Constitutional Law for a Changing America
A Short Course
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
—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 from 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 Ninth Edition of A Short Course offers all the hallmarks of the Rights and Powers volumes (also included in the Constitutional Law for a Changing America series) in a more condensed format.
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Case Archive
https://edge.sagepub.com/epsteinshort9e
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.
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- The new edition has been updated to include key opinions handed down through the 2022 term, including the significant changes in abortion, affirmative action, religious activity in public schools, and partisan gerrymandering.
- Two chapters now cover freedom of speech: In order to highlight some of the foundational issues and contrast them with contemporary disputes over expression, coverage of speech has separated into two chapters — Chapter 13 offers an overview of the enduring topics of free expression, and Chapter 14 reorganizes cases around modern legal questions about speech.
- 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.
- Carefully condensed from the Rights and Powers volumes, A Short Course fits the needs of 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.
- 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.