Tribe's American Constitutional Law, 3D (University Textbook Series) [Hardcover]

Laurence H. Tribe (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1566627141 | ISBN-13: 978-1566627146 | Publication Date: January 2000 | Edition: 3 Sub

Professor Tribe’s highly regarded treatise on constitutional law is organized around issues, or constitutional functions, rather than being a sequential discussion of the text to the Constitution. The text is heavily footnoted with references to treatises, law review articles, the U.S. Code, and Supreme Court cases. This edition will be published in two self-contained volumes to be released sequentially. Volume I concentrates on the Constitution's provisions for government structure and on how constitutional structure helps guarantee protection of substantive rights and liberties. Volume II will address in greater detail those substantive rights and liberties and the structure of the protections the Constitution provides for them.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ralph S. Tyler, Jr. Professor of Constitutional Law, Harvard University School of Law

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1470 pages
• Publisher: Foundation Press; 3 Sub edition (January 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566627141
• ISBN-13: 978-1566627146
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.2 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #359,387 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a great resource for students, June 7, 2002

By 

Small Beer (Boise, Idao) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tribe's American Constitutional Law, 3D (University Textbook Series) (Hardcover)

I purchased this book before my first year of law school. I figured that reading this would help me in my constitutional law class. In retrospect, I think that purchasing this book was probably a waste of money and that there were much better constitutional law treatises I could have bought.

Perhaps the biggest problem I had with this treatise is that it is not complete. It is part one of a projected two-part treatise. This frustrated me, as more than half the topics covered in my class were not given treatment in this book. Topics not covered in this volume include: the First Amendment, Equal Protection, the Fifth Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment and the Privileges and Immunities Clause.

Even the chapters in this book that overlapped with topics covered in my class were not helpful. This is largely because of Tribe's writing style. He does not devote much space to discussing individual cases. Instead he cites a case to stand for a particular proposition, and then moves on. He may cite the same case several different times, each cite being hundreds of pages apart. The result is that as much time is spent flipping through pages as is spent reading Tribe's analysis of the case in question.

Tribe's style is also very difficult to follow. At times he is prolix, writing about "construction of the constitutional architecture," and "two strands intertwined in a single, grand fabric of law and politics." At other times he covers topics in such micro-detail that one is left wondering if Tribe is showing off. One reader commented on this, saying that the book is worth purchasing for the footnotes alone. I disagree. I do not think that most readers will have time to read Tribe's footnotes--many of which are hundreds of words long--nor will they have time to read the thirty cases mentioned within each footnote, many of which are essential to read if one is to understand the thrust of Tribe's point.

I give this book three stars, a middle-of-the-road rating. I do this because I realize that Tribe's book may be of tremendous utility to a law professor, or to a student who is writing a law review note on a topic of constitutional interest. For first year law students, however, Tribe's book is best avoided. Better resources for the first-year student include: Emanuel's Constitutional Law Outline and Erwin Chemerinksy's "Constitutional Law Principles and Policies." Both of those titles give clearer and more spot-on analysis of topics typically covered in first-year constitutional law courses.

40 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for all law students., February 17, 2000

By 

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

This review is from: Tribe's American Constitutional Law, 3D (University Textbook Series) (Hardcover)

This treatise on Constitutional Law is essential to every law student. I am currently enrolled in first-year Constitutional Law course, and I open up this book at least once everyday. The information contained in the book almost always answers my question, but on the rare occasion it does not the case cites and especially the secondary legal cites are excellent. I have purchased several Constitutional Law hornbooks and study aids, and this book by Professor Tribe easily surpasses the rest. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent treatise on American Constitutional Law., February 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Tribe's American Constitutional Law, 3D (University Textbook Series) (Hardcover)

In this first volume of the soon to be two volume third edition, Professor Tribe does an excellent job of articulating the most prominent arguments of today, as well as an excellent analysis of all constitutional law topics. After reading any topic in this book it is hard to believe that there is more to know on that issue, but if there is, the place to find it is in the excellent citations this book has to offer. These citations alone would be reason to purchase this book.

As a law student in a first year con law class, my recommendation to every law student is to buy this book, and the second volume when it comes out, as soon as you can, you will not need another hornbook or study aid.