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American Constitutional Law Volume II provides a comprehensive account of the nation's defining document, examining how its provisions were originally understood by those who drafted and ratified it, and how they have since been interpreted by the Supreme Court, Congress, the President, lower federal courts, and state judiciaries. Clear and accessible chapter introductions and a careful balance between classic and recent cases provide students with a sense of how the law has been understood and construed over the years.
The 12th Edition includes several recent landmark First Amendment cases, including
Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022) and
Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023). A new companion website, https://americanconlaw.com/, offers access to primary documents and every case that formerly appeared in
American Constitutional Law.
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List of contents
1. Interpretation of Constitution 2. Constitutional Adjudication 3. Rights Under the Constitution 4. Economic Due Process and the Takings Clause 5. Freedom of Speech, Press, and Association 6 . Freedom of Religion 7. Criminal Procedure 8. Constitutional Equality and Racial Discrimination 9. Substantive Equal Protection 10. The Right to Privacy, Personal Autonomy, and Dignity
About the author
Ralph A. Rossum is Henry Salvatori Professor Emeritus at Claremont McKenna College. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and is the author of several books, including:
Understanding Clarence Thomas: The Jurisprudence of Constitutional Restoration (2014);
The Supreme Court and Tribal Gaming: California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians (2011);
Antonin Scalia's Jurisprudence: Text and Tradition (2006);
Federalism, the Supreme Court, and the Seventeenth Amendment: The Irony of Constitutional Democracy (2001);
Congressional Control of the Judiciary: The Article III Option (1988);
The American Founding: Politics, Statesmanship, and the Constitution (1981);
Reverse Discrimination: The Constitutional Debate (1979); and
The Politics of the Criminal Justice System: An Organizational Analysis (1978). He has served in the US Department of Justice as deputy director of its Bureau of Justice Statistics and as a board member of its National Institute of Corrections. He recently served as a member of the California Advisory Committee, US Commission on Civil Rights.
G. Alan Tarr is Board of Governors Professor Emeritus and the founder and former Director of the Center for State Constitutional Studies at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey. He received his doctorate from the University of Chicago. Professor Tarr is the author of several books, including
Judicial Process and Judicial Policymaking (6th edition, 2013),
Without Fear or Favor: Judicial Independence and Judicial Accountability in the States (2012),
Understanding State Constitutions (1998), and
State Supreme Courts in State and Nation (1988). He is coeditor of the three-volume
State Constitutions for the Twenty-First Century (2005),
Constitutional Dynamics in Federal Systems: Subnational Perspectives (2012),
Constitutional Origins, Structure, and Change in Federal Countries (2005), and several other volumes. Three times the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and more recently a Fulbright Fellow, Professor Tarr has served as a consultant to the US Department of State, the American Bar Association, the National Center for State Courts, and several state governments. He has lectured on American constitutionalism and federalism throughout the United States, as well as in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.
Vincent Phillip Muñoz is Tocqueville Professor of Political Science, Concurrent Professor of Law, and Founding Director of the Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government at the University of Notre Dame. He received his BA from Claremont McKenna College, MA from Boston College, and Ph.D. from The Claremont Graduate School. Professor Muñoz is author of
Religious Liberty and the American Founding: Natural Rights and the Original Meanings of the First Amendment Religion Clauses (2022) and
God and the Founders: Madison, Washington, and Jefferson (2009), and editor of
Religious Liberty and the American Supreme Court: The Essential Cases and Documents (second edition, 2025).
John C. Yoo is Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the School of Civic Leadership and the University of Texas at Austin and the Emanuel Heller Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley. He is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He earned his JD from Yale Law School and AB from Harvard University. Professor Yoo is co-author of
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Supreme Court (2023), and author of
Defender-in-Chief: Trump's Fight for Presidential Power (2020)
; Striking Power: How Cyber, Robots, and Space Weapons Change the Rules for War (2017),
Point of Attack: Preventive War, International Law, and Global Welfare (2014),
Crisis and Command: A History of Executive Power from George Washington to George Bush (2010),
The Powers of War and Peace: The Constitution and Foreign Affairs after 9/11 (2006), and
War By Other Means: An Insider's Account of the War on Terror (2006). Professor Yoo has served in all three branches of government, including as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
