Constitutional Interpretation: Rights of the Individual, Volume II

This book is actually split into two parts. Sometimes you can buy the parts individually. For my college, you needed a different half for different courses. I suggest just buying both in one book. It makes for a nice reference. Each section has a short part about the topic and then various cases, their backrounds, and Justice opinions. If you have a hard time decifering the opinions, I suggest having a quick reference handy as well. I would also suggest limiting yourself to one notecard per case for note-taking. This will keep you focused as it limits how much you can write. Sum up the case facts, summarize the decision, and write why various sides supported their decisions. Any longer notes, and you may be writing more than necessary. There are plenty of cases for each example, some of which overlap in the first and second half.

I use this book in my Constitutional Law classes at the college/university level. Although a bit ambivalent/unsure about it at first, it has grown on me a bit more with every semester I use it-- particularly when I review "the opposition" for course consideration. It's not particularly glitzy-- you won't find a lot of cartoons or "cool graphics" in it. It does, however, represent a nice range of critical Sup.Ct. cases and offers well-edited excerpts from them in a logical manner. Ducat's commentary between cases also provides readers with logical exposition and development from point to point. If it's not the world's greatest Con Law textbook (though I'm not saying it necessarily isn't!), it clearly at least deserves to be considered as one which is highly above average. Recommended for course adoption by other legal studies profs, and lay readers interested in constitutional issues would probably enjoy it, as well-- particularly if they appreciate the case-intensive method of the study of law.