A Practical Companion to the Constitution: How the Supreme Court Has Ruled on Issues from Abortion to Zoning, Updated and Expanded Edition of The Evolving Constitution by Jethro K. Lieberman

Product Details

Synopsis

This is the most comprehensive and readable one-volume reference book in print, accessible to lay readers and specialists alike, on the meaning of the American Constitution as the Supreme Court has interpreted it. It is an indispensable tool for students and lay persons who want to understand today's constitutional controversies and their background in our history. It is equally useful to lawyers and other specialists who seek quick reviews of constitutional issues with immediate reference to cases for further research.
Unlike conventional treatises that discuss the Constitution clause by clause or under a few broad concepts, this book uniquely treats every aspect of the Constitution and every constitutional topic in alphabetical order, in more than 1,000 short essays. It is extensively cross-referenced and exhaustively indexed, so that even a reader with only a minimal notion of the Constitution or constitutional law can quickly find clear answers to questions about pressing issues of the day.
Among the other unique features: a set of introductory essays on the background of the Constitution and the many difficulties of interpreting it; a concordance to each word and phrase in the Constitution; a year-by-year chronology of justices who have served on the Supreme Court; and a table of the more than 2,650 Supreme Court cases from 1792 to the present referred to in the book, listing the vote, the author of the majority opinion, the concurring and dissenting justices, and the length of the opinions.

Annotation

This unique one-volume guide to the Constitution of the United States is an easily accessible tour of the constitutional issues of the past and the present. Arranged alphabetically by topic, this essential reference contains over 1,200 lively essays which highlight background, history, and latest developments of each issue. Includes short biographies of every Supreme Court Justice, full text of the Constitution, and an index.

Library Journal

This excellent reference work details the manner in which the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the Constitution for almost 200 years. A professor of law at New York Law School, Lieberman has written other books on the Constitution. His present work is well organized, digesting about 2,370 Supreme Court cases into roughly 1200 concise, pertinent, and easily understood essays on constitutional issues. Arranged alphabetically by topic, each essay highlights both the constitutional background and the history of the issue, as well the latest legal developments. The book effectively illustrates the manner in which changing economic and social conditions can frequently alter the way the Supreme Court interprets an issue. For example, evolving attitudes of the Court are evidenced by the change from the separate-but-equal doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) to the separate-is-inherently-unequal doctrine of Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Also, changing political winds can sometimes result in the reversal of decisions once perceived to be definitive--witness the ongoing weakening of the seminal 1973 abortion decision, Roe v. Wade . Highly recommended for public libraries and the general reference collections of academic libraries.-- Philip Y. Blue, Dowling Coll. Lib., Oakdale, N.Y

Biography

Jethro K. Lieberman is Professor of Law at New York Law School, Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, and author of The Litigious Society (1981) and The Enduring Constitution (1987), both of which won the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award. He is also the coauthor of A Lawyer's Guide to Writing Well (California, 1991).