Kathleen Sullivan takes hatchet to Supreme Court cases: law student rejoices

books:

	• Constitutional Law (University Casebook Series) Kathleen M. Sullivan, Gerald Gunther Foundation Press, 2007 - 1460 pages average customer review:based on 20 reviews view larger image
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Deep and insightful.

Written over a series of centuries, primarily consisting of the delusional ramblings of 9 old white men, the plotline of the novel is loose at best. Fortunately, the protagonists, ever-shifting, are a compelling ensemble of rapscallions and rebels. Although the ending is ill-defined, the core values can be applied to a wide variety of situations. I'll probably buy Sullivan's next novel.

Magisterial work, continuing a long tradition

This version follows in the wake of a long tradition of excellence. This work began as an edited Con Law text, created by Noel Dowling, in 1937. In the 1960s, what had formerly been Dowling alone became Dowling and Gunther. As Gerald Gunther did more of the work, it became known as Gunther and Dowling (the way the authors were ordered when I first acquired a copy in graduate school). Later, Gunther became listed as the sole editor. Now, Kathleen Sullivan has stepped in to be listed as co-editor of this esteemed, long-lived volume.

And it continues to be one of the best texts in Constitutional Law. Several issues make this an excellent volume (especially for law school students). One, it covers a great deal of material. There are myriad cases (normally, nicely edited so that one gets a large number of cases--but for which there is enough of the Court's opinion to make the logic of the Justices intelligible).

Two, there is plenty of context provided for major cases. For instance, after the presentation of the Court's opinion in "Marbury v. Madison," there are a number of snippets exploring the history of judicial review, the controversy over the Court's claim that it could strike down laws as unconstitutional, and so on.

Three, after key cases, there are a host of follow up questions to get the reader thinking about the implications of the decision. These questions, themselves, are an important part of this (and many other) law school textbooks (whether Con Law, Environmental Law, Administrative Law, etc.).

Once more, this text is one more edition that contributes to the legacy of Noel Dowling's original volume, produced first back in the 1930s. After plowing through this fat volume, people who persevere will have a much more nuanced and intelligible understanding of the Constitution.

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Kathleen Sullivan takes hatchet to Supreme Court cases: law student rejoices

Any text that can get Brown v. Board down to 2 pages gets my vote, especially in a semester in which I had 6 other classes. The book trims everything down more than any other casebook I've seen, but leaves enough meat on the bones to discuss in class.

Your standard Con-law Casebook, but not as beefy as some

I used this text in my first amendment class so I only read pp. 740 ish to the end of the text.

For the most part this is your standard Constitutional law text, with few principal cases, and pages after pages of note cases to follow. Unlike most law textbooks, Sullivan does a good job of doing what most law book don't do--she gets to the point and doesn't waste much time getting there. The material flows together quite nicely, although some the cases could have been edited better, as some of the editing leaves some important information, but all in all, if this is your con law text, then you shouldn't have too much trouble getting through it.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

The Sixteenth Edition provides comprehensive coverage of all areas of constitutional law, including judicial review, separation of powers, federalism, due process, equal protection, free speech, and religious liberty. It emphasizes constitutional law as a species of law, and aims to enable students who use it to practice constitutional law as lawyers. It also seeks to illuminate the historical, theoretical, and philosophical background that bears on constitutional law and informs its practice. The 16th edition thoroughly revises, updates and streamlines this classic casebook, emphasizing contemporary problems in areas from the war on terror to new uses of the Internet. Highlights of the 16th edition include the final decisions of the Rehnquist Court, a preliminary look at the first two terms of the Roberts Court, and expanded analysis of recent controversial decisions from Hamdan v. Rumsfeld to Gonzales v. Raich and Kelo v. City of New London. It includes all key constitutional cases through the 2006-2007 Supreme Court Term, including the Court's latest holdings on abortion, race-based assigments in the public schools, drug-related speech by public school students, and limits on campaign finance.

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