Constitutional Law (University Casebook Series) [Hardcover]

Gerald Gunther (Author), Kathleen M. Sullivan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1566629071 | ISBN-13: 978-1566629072 | Publication Date: September 2001 | Edition: 14th

Focuses on four key areas: Federalism (Lopez, NY v. U.S., Term Limits, and Seminole Tribe), Equal Protection (affirmative action and voting rights), Free Speech (indecent speech in the internet, tobacco advertising and campaign money), and Religion (Religious Freedom Restoration Act, debates over the meaning of religious liberty).

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kathleen M. Sullivan is the Stanley Morrison Professor of Law and former Dean of the Stanford University School of Law.

Gerald Gunther is the late William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law Emeritus, Stanford University School of Law. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1696 pages
• Publisher: Foundation Pr; 14th edition (September 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566629071
• ISBN-13: 978-1566629072
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.7 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,096,536 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent casebook on Constitutional Law, May 4, 2000

By 

Chitown Reader (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Constitutional Law, Thirteenth Edition (Hardcover)

Unfortunately, law school is not for everyone (see the reviews below). However, I would not lay the blame at the feet of what is an excellent casebook. If one is looking for a quick and shallow statement of the blackletter law then I recommend reading Emmanuel's (full disclosure: I was a paid reviewer for Emmanuel's). If you want to understand Constitutional Law without having to read the cases, then I highly recommend American Constitutional Law by Laurence Tribe, which is an excellent book in its own right, and I would strongly recommend it in addition to the Gunther and Sullivan casebook. However, it is necessary in order to gain a full understanding of the law to go through the process of case analysis.

This is especially true in the field of Constitutional Law. While it is perhaps possible for one to become an expert on the topic of Criminal Law or Torts on Emmanuel's alone, it is necessary to read the cases to fully understand Constitutional Law. This is because Constitutional law is composed of primarily three things: first, the text of the Constitution itself; second, historical documentation such as the Federalist Papers (I strongly recommend the Mentor edition); and third, the cases themselves, precedent. This is the stuff that con law is made of, Justice Brennan and the "spirit" of the Constitution notwithstanding.

If you have the capacity and the desire to learn constitutional law, I would strongly recommend purchasing this casebook. Gunther and Sullivan do an excellent job of structuring the cases, and the notes will probe and challenge your understanding of the material, and even provide a synopsis of the "law" in case you failed to read the case as thoroughly as perhaps you should have.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tough Topic, Great Casebook, February 7, 2001

By 

Yakov Zolotorev (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Constitutional Law, Thirteenth Edition (Hardcover)

This is as good a constitutional law casebook as it gets. Nobody ever said that this area of the law is even remotely clear and easily accessible. Gunther and Sullivan have managed to put together a comprehensive list of cases that does justice to the, sometimes, mind - boggling complexity of the law. Those that just want to get through law school will be satisfied reading Emanuels; those that are scholars of the law will enjoy the challenge of this casebook.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good casebook for a very difficult subject, January 16, 2002

By 

Martin P. McCarthy (North Chili, New York) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Constitutional Law (University Casebook Series) (Hardcover)

Profs Gunther and Sullivan's casebook is an excellent casebook for Constitutional Law which is a difficult area of law professors to teach and for law students to understand.

Pros: Good case edits; excellent, almost flawless treatment of materials up until the First Amendment materials; instructive, informative, and, at times, prophetic notes to the cases.

Cons: The First Amendment Section of the book (roughly the last 500 pages) suffers at times from a thematic layout that sometimes confuses the chronological timeframes; because of the formatting of the text, the notes that follow the case are sometimes difficult to distinguish from the cases themselves and/or note cases.