Winner of the APSA Law and Courts Section’s Teaching and Mentoring Award!
Meeting the needs of professors who teach one-term courses—or for those teaching two terms who wish to assign other readings—this condensed and concise one-volume text spans the breadth of institutional powers and civil rights and liberties. Epstein and Walker emphasize political context—arguments and input from lawyers and interest groups, justices’ ideological and behavioral inclinations, elected officials’ partisan positions, as well as public opinion— allowing students to see the development of constitutional doctrine within its decidedly political environment.
For this new fourth edition, material has been thoroughly updated through the end of the 2007–2008 term of the Supreme Court, with coverage and analysis of presidential signing statements, a survey of how legal principles affect the Court’s decision making, and detailed overviews of recent cases, such as Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, Gonzales v. Raich, Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, Kelo v. City of New London, and Van Orden v. Perry. Additionally, Epstein and Walker are including a brand new, concise chapter on the Second Amendment with the recent District of Columbia v. Heller case.
Commentary helps students understand context of particular cases, while Aftermath boxes and profiles of influential groups and justices, photographs of litigants, and exhibits from cases enliven the text and enhance learning.
Table of Contents
I. THE U.S. CONSTITUTION AN INTRODUCTION TO THE U.S. CONSTITUTION
The Road to the U.S. Constitution
Underlying Principles of the Constitution
Separation of Powers/Checks and Balances
Federalism
Individual Rights and Liberties
1. THE LIVING CONSTITUTION
The Amendment Process
The Supreme Court and the Living Constitution
The Court as an Instigator of Constitutional Amendments
The Court as an Interpreter of the Amendment Process
The Court as a Nationalizer of the Bill of Rights
2. UNDERSTANDING THE SUPREME COURT
The Processing of Supreme Court Cases
Deciding to Decide: The Supreme Court's Caseload
The Role of Attorneys
The Supreme Court Decides
Supreme Court Decision Making: The Role of Law and Legal Principles
Original Intent
Textualism I: Literalism
Textualism II: Meaning of the Words/Original Understanding
Logical Reasoning
Stare Decisis
Balancing Approaches
Supreme Court Decison Making: The Role of Politics
Preference-Based Approaches
Strategic Approaches
External Factors
Conducting Research on the Supreme Court
Locating Supreme Court Decisions
II. INSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY
STRUCTURING THE FEDERAL SYSTEM
The Origins of the Separation of Powers/Checks and Balances System
Separation of Powers and the Constitution
3. JUDICIARY
The Establishment of the Federal Judiciary
Article III
The Judiciary Act of 1789
Judicial Review
Marbury v.Madison (1803)
Constraints on Judicial Power
Jurisdiction
Ex Parte McCardle (1869)
4. THE LEGISLATURE
Article I: Historical Overview
Powers of Congress Members of Congress: Qualifications, Immunity, and Discipline
Membership in Congress: Seating and Discipline
U. S. Term Limits v. Thornton (1995)
The Speech or Debate Clause
The Sources and Scope of Legislative Powers
Enumnerated and Implied Powers
McCulloch v.Maryland (1819)
Inherent Powers United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. (1936)
Congress and the Separation of Powers
The Delegation of Powers
Congress and the Usurpation of Executive and Judicial Powers
Mistretta v. United States (1989)
Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha (1983)
5. THE EXECUTIVE
Selection and Formal Powers
Presidential Selection and Constitutional Change
Constitutional Powers
The Domestic Powers of the President
Veto Power
Clinton v. City of New York (1998)
Presidential Signing Statements
The Power of Appointment and Removal
Executive Privilege
Protecting the Presidential Confidentiality
United States v. Nixon (1974)
Executive Immunity: Protecting the President from Lawsuit
Clinton v. Jones (1997)
The President and Foreign Affairs
The President and Foreign Policy
Presidential Policy During War and National Emergencies
Korematsu v. United States (1944)
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company v. Sawyer (1952)
Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004)
III. NATION-STATE RELATIONS
AN INTRODUCTION TO NATION-STATE RELATIONS
6. FEDERALISM
The Marshall Court and the Rise of National Supremacy
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
The Taney Court and the (Re)Emergence of States’ Rights
Dual Federalism and Laissez-Faire Economics
Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918)
The (Re)Emergence of National Supremacy: Cooperative Federalism
United States v. Darby Lumber (1941)
Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority (1985)
The Return of a Modified Version of Dual Federalism
Printz v. United States (1997)
7. THE COMMERCE POWER
Constitutional Foundations of the Commerce Power
Commerce and the Constitutional Convention
Marshall Defines Commerce
Gibbons V. Ogden (1824)
Defining Interstate Commerce
The Shreveport Doctrine Manufacturing and Direct Effects on Interstate Commerce
The Stream Of Commerce Doctrine
The Supreme Court, the New Deal, And Beyond
The Depression and Political Change
The Court Attacks the New Deal
Schechter Poultry Corp. V. United States (1935)
The Court-Packing Plan
The Switch in Time That Saved Nine
National Labor Relations Board V. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation (1937)
Consolidating the New Interpretation of The Commerce Power
Modern Limitations on the Commerce Power
United States V. Lopez (1995)
Gonzales V. Raich (2005)
Regulating Commerce as a Federal Police Power
Heart of Atlanta Motel V. United States (1964)
The Commerce Power of the States
Cooley V. Board of Wardens(1852)
8. THE POWER TO TAX AND SPEND
The Constitutional Power to Tax and Spend
Federal Taxation Authority
State Taxation Authority
Direct Taxes and the Power to Tax Income
Defining Direct Taxation
The Constitutionality of the Income Tax
Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co. (1895)
The Sixteenth Amendment
Intergovernmental Tax Immunity
The Erosion of the Tax Immunity Doctrine
Taxation as a Regulatory Power
Taxing and Spending For the General Welfare
South Dakota v. Dole (1987)
IV. ECONOMIC LIBERTIES
ECONOMIC LIBERTIES AND INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS
9. THE CONTRACT CLAUSE
The Framers and the Contract Clause
John Marshall and the Contract Clause
Establishing the Importance of the Contract Clause
Corporate Charters as Contracts
The Decline of the Contract Clause
Elevating the Public Good
Proprietors of Charles River Bridge v. Proprietors of Warren Bridge (1837)
Decline in the Post-Civil War Period
The Depression and the Abrogation of Contracts
Home Building and Loan Association v. Blaisdell (1934)
Contemporary Applications of the Contract Clause
10. ECONOMIC SUBSTANTIVE DUE PROCESS
The Development of Substantive Due Process
Initial Interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause
The Beginning of Substantive Due Process: The Court Opens a Window
The Roller-Coaster Ride of Substantive Due Process: 1898-1923
Lochner v. New York (1905)
The Heyday of Substantive Due Process: 1923-1936
Adkins v. Children’s Hospital (1923)
The Depression, the New Deal, And The Decline Of Substantive Due Process
West Coast Hotel v. Parrish: The End of Substantive Due Process
West Coast Hotel v. Parrish (1937)
The Aftermath of West Coast Hotel
11. THE TAKINGS CLAUSE
Protecting Private Property From Government Seizure
What Constitutes A Taking?
Penn Central Transportation Company v. City of New York
Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council (1992)
The Public Use Requirement
Kelo v. City of New London (2005)
V. CIVIL LIBERTIES
APPROACHING CIVIL LIBERTIES
12. RELIGION: EXERCISE AND ESTABLISHMENT
Free Exercise of Religion
The Belief/Action Distinction and the Valid Secular Policy Test
The Sherbert-Yoder Compelling Interest Test
Sherbert v. Verner (1963)
The Smith Test
Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith
Religious Establishment
The Search for an Establishment Clause Standard
Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971); Earley v. DiCenso (1971)
Recurring Establishment Clause Issues
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002)
School District of Abington Township v. Schempp; Murray v. Curlett (1963)
Religious Displays
Van Orden v. Perry (2005)
13. FREEDOM OF SPEECH, ASSEMBLY, AND ASSOCIATION
The Development of Legal Standards: The Emergence of Law in Times of Crisis
The Clear and Present Danger Test
Schenck v. United States
Bad Tendency Test
The Preferred Freedoms Doctrine
The Aftermath of World War II: Competing Tests and a Divided Court
Speech and Association during the Warren Court Era
Vietnam, the Civil Rights Movement, and Beyond
Regulating Expression: Content and Contexts
Guiding Principles
Symbolic Speech
Texas v. Johnson
Public Forums and the Preservation of Order
Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire
Hate Speech R. A. V. v. City of St. Paul, Minnesota
Commercial Expression
The Right Not to Speak
West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette
Expressive Association
Boy Scouts of America v. Dale
14. FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
Prior Restraint
Near v. Minnesota (1931)
Branzburg v. Hayes (1972)
The Boundaries of Free Press: Obscenity And Libel
Obscenity
Miller v. California(1973)
Libel
New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)
New Methods of Expression: The Internet
Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union (1997)
15. THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS
District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)
16. THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY
The Right to Privacy: Foundations
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
Reproductive Freedom and the Right to Privacy
Roe v. Wade (1975)
The Aftermath of Roe: Attempts to Limit the Decision
Attempts to Overturn Roe: Akron, Webster, and Casey
Private Activities and the Application of Griswold
Private Sexual Activity
Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
The Right to Die
Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health (1990)
Drug Testing
VI. THE RIGHTS OF THE CRIMINALLY ACCUSED
THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AND CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS
17. INVESTIGATIONS AND EVIDENCE
Searches And Seizures
The Supreme Court and the Fourth Amendment
The Fourth Amendment and the War Against Terrorism
Enforcing the Fourth Amendment: The Exclusionary Rule
Mapp v. Ohio
United States v. Leon
The Fifth Amendment And Self-Incrimination
Miranda v. Arizona
18. ATTORNEYS, TRIALS, AND PUNISHMENTS
The Right to Counsel
Gideon v. Wainwright
Fair Trials Speedy and Public Trials
Jury Trials
Confronting Witnesses
Self-Incrimination and Testimony
Sentencing and the Eighth Amendment
Defining Cruel and Unusual
The Death Penalty
Gregg v. Georgia
In the Aftermath of Gregg
Atkins v. Virginia
Post-Trial Stages
VII. CIVIL RIGHTS
CIVIL RIGHTS AND THE CONSTITUTION
19. DISCRIMINATION
Racial Discrimination
Plessy v. Ferguson
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Sex Discrimination
Reed v. Reed
Craig v. Boren
Economic Discrimination
San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez Discrimination
Based On Sexual Orientation
Romer v. Evans
Remedying The Effects Of Discrimination: Affirmative Action
Grutter v. Bollinger
20. VOTING AND REPRESENTATION
The Supreme Court and Elections
Bush v. Gore
Voting Rights
State Restrictions on Voting
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
South Carolina v. Katzenbach
Regulation of Election Campaigns
McConnell v. Federal Election Commission
Political Representation
The Reapportionment Controversy
Reynolds v. Sims
Political Representation and Minority Rights
Miller v. Johnson
Testimonials
“Our nation’s cherished, celebrated and emulated system of free enterprise rests on the foundation of personal rights and freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Over the past decade, I’ve used all three editions of Epstein and Walker’s Constitutional Law for a Changing America: A Short Course as the text for my course in The Constitution and Free Enterprise. It has proved the perfect tool to introduce advanced undergraduate students from a variety of disciplines to the constitutional jurisprudence that undergirds our economic system. They love the way the text weaves history, political theory and judicial lawmaking into an unfolding story that entertains as well as informs. I look forward to the continued success of this course using the new Fourth Edition.”
- Arnold J. Rosoff, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania“I rely on Epstein and Walker to provide my students with well-edited case opinions placed within rich historic and political narratives. This approach reminds students of constitutional law that the decisions that emanate from the Supreme Court are the product of not only legal reason, but also a complex set of forces within and outside the Court. With this perspective, my students and I are better able to take on the questions Epstein and Walker pose to their readers. Strategically, the authors leave many of their own questions unanswered, resulting in spirited class discussions that force students to reach conclusions for themselves.”
- Bill Swinford, University of Kentucky“Constitutional Law for a Changing America is unique in successfully marrying the concerns of modern political science with our stock-in-trade, the close analysis of famous cases, and doing so in a way undergraduates find not only palatable but also stimulating.”
- Gregory A. Caldeira, Ohio State University
Bio(s)
Lee Epstein, Northwestern University
Lee Epstein is the Beatrice Kuhn Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University. She is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Political and Social Science. She received her Ph.D. from Emory University. She is coauthor of The Supreme Court and Legal Change: Abortion and the Death Penalty (1992) with Joseph Kobylka; Advice and Consent: The Politics of Judicial Appointments (2005) with Jeffrey A. Segal; The Supreme Court Compendium: Data, Decisions, and Developments, 4th ed. (2007) with Segal, Harold J. Spaeth, and Thomas G. Walker; and The Choices Justices Make (1998) with Jack Knight, which won the C. Herman Pritchett Award for the best book on law and courts. In addition, she is coauthor, with Walter F. Murphy and C. Herman Pritchett of Courts, Judges and Politics, 6th ed. (2006).
Thomas G. Walker, Emory University
Thomas G. Walker is Goodrich C. White Professor of Political Science at Emory University where he has won several teaching awards for his courses on constitutional law and the judicial process. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky. His book, A Court Divided, written with Deborah J. Barrow, won the prestigious V.O. Key Award for the best book on southern politics. He is the coauthor of The Supreme Court Compendium: Data, Decisions, and Developments, 4th ed. (2007) with Lee Epstein, Jeffrey A. Segal, and Harold J. Spaeth.
Ancillaries
Online case archive at CLCA.CQPRESS.COM
With more than 300 supplemental cases that are mentioned or referenced in the text’s commentary, this online archive has been compiled and edited with great care—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. The authors continue to post recent cases as soon as each Supreme Court term ends, keeping this invaluable resource as current as possible. As with other editions of Constitutional Law for a Changing America, instructors and students purchasing new copies* will enjoy free access to the online Constitutional Law Case Archive.
*Students purchasing used copies may purchase Archive access for a nominal fee.
Instructor’s Resources at CLCA.CQPRESS.COM
Created by Timothy Johnson at the University of Minnesota, instructor’s resources include helpful case briefs and a wealth of test questions—including multiple choice, essay, and hypothetical. Instructors will also find a new test bank specific to the Short Course edition.
Click here to access Case Archve and Instructor's Resources.
