Students who study constitutional law from this text will gain much insight into the thought processes of Supreme Court justices. This insight, in turn, enables students to more fully appreciate the current state of constitutional law and to anticipate the future direction of the Court in key areas. The authors accomplish this in part by less editing of the excerpted cases. Thus, students witness the evolution of constitutional principles through the justices' own words. Lighter editing, and the inclusion of dissenting and concurring opinions, allows the reader to follow the logical steps of the Court's analysis. Following an introductory chapter on the structure of the federal court system and judicial power, this traditional casebook thoroughly covers federalism, separation of powers, and individual rights including due process, equal protection, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion.

This book also is available in a three-hole punched, alternative loose-leaf version printed on 8.5 x 11 inch paper with wider margins and with the same pagination as the hardbound book.