Learning Constitutional Law: Powers, Structure, and the Fourteenth Amendment

This title utilizes our CasebookPlus™ platform. Learn more at Faculty-CasebookPlus.com.

Learning Constitutional Law: Powers, Structure, and the Fourteenth Amendment meets law students where they really are and bridges them to the places they are headed. True to its title, it is designed to help law students better pursue the task of learning constitutional law as they head into their professional careers.

This softcover book covers the subject matter typically addressed in a one-semester constitutional law course. For the convenience of students and professors, it omits chapters on the freedom of religion and freedom of expression that appear in a forthcoming larger hardcover edition, titled simply Learning Constitutional Law.

Focused first and foremost on student learning, Learning Constitutional Law anticipates the challenges students face when studying constitutional law. The canon is covered and leading cases appear in generous excerpts. But unlike many traditional constitutional law casebooks, Learning Constitutional Law does not present the material as pieces of a puzzle (often in the form of a sequence of cases) awaiting assembly into a coherent and accurate picture of the law later, presumably in class and through Socratic discussion. Students instead will find clear and concise treatise-like summaries and discussions that directly meet their learning needs – and which also free up pages in the casebook and time in the classroom for students to apply what they have learned and thereby deepen and broaden their understanding.

Problems, exercises, and discussion prompts figure importantly in the book, and they are geared to guide learning inside and outside the classroom. Importantly, every effort is made to highlight constitutional law’s relevancy to the roles students can see themselves playing in their careers as practicing lawyers. The problems, exercises, and discussion prompts aim to situate students in realistic contexts they will face in their immediate future. The subject comes alive in new ways for students, promoting interest, engagement, and accessibility.

Learning Constitutional Law also has the virtues of a first edition written here and now. While attentive to history and its importance, the book is structured by constitutional law as it stands today. Fresh and current, it will serve professors and students well as they examine new challenges and developments in times of constitutional change.

Imprint: West Academic Publishing
Series: Learning Series
Publication Date: 05/08/2024