Constitutional Law: Principles And Policies (Introduction to Law Series)

This book is excellent. My Con Law professor is impossible to understand, and I literally had to teach myself the entire course. I could not have done it without this book. Chemerinsky explains things in a way that is easy to understand and not at all confusing. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has a horrible Con Law professor!

Chemerinsky has done a fine job of connecting the dots and making the ever-evolvong doctrines of American Constitutional jurisprudence understandable. The major weakness with most Con law books is that in focusing on individual cases, the student will often embroil himself or herself in the minutiae of individual cases while losing sight of the bigger picture. The glaring weakness of most commercial outlines is that the pendulum swings too far in the other direction; instead of focuing on individual cases, outlines give the bigger picture without providing enough context and specific information to truly inform the reader. That being said, Chemerinsky has found the perfect balance and his work suffers from neither of the aforementioned flaws. In the words of Goldilocks, Chemerinsky's treatment of Constitutional law is "just right."

Prof. Chemerisnky classifies the subject matter in this book according to general topics that any Con law student will recognize as the subject matter of a general Con law course. Yet, instead of of just providing a distilled outline analysis, Chemerinsky details a case-by-case analysis under each general topical heading and describes the major points and importance of the cases in a few paragraphs. Prof. Chemerinsky's case descriptions and analysis is extremely helpful and highlightss the most important and vital doctrines of the cases as it relates to the general topic being covered. These descriptions serve as a helpful supplement whne actually reading the cases themselves. Moreover, Chemerinsky masterfully ties all the applicable cases together and provides his own enlightening summary of how all the case law interacts so that the reader can understand where the law stands, and where the contours and lines have been drawn. Finally, Chemerinsky does a fine job of providing neutral and non-partisan analysis that focuses on the state of the law, and not intellectual prose arguing where he thinks the law should be. I would highly recommend this book to any Con Law student (as a great way to study and prepare for an exam), and to any general reader who desires to gain a deeper and more nuanced understanding of Constitutional jurisprudence.

The book is in GREAT shape, but took FOREVER to get here!! Don't buy if you are in any hurry!

This book was extremely helpful! All law students should get it, whether it's recommended or not :)

In my mind there is only one thing to add to the reviews that have been posted- this book should be read and re-read by law students and lawyers until they have a fundamental understanding of important constitutional law principles, not only a vague recollection from one or two law school classes. I believe it is the responsibility of lawyers to know constitutional law well and to be a resource for the community in interpretering it to lay people. Whatever specialty a lawyer winds up practicing, constitutional law occupies a special place for a citizen-lawyer and the lawyer should take this charge seriously. Recent events have highlighted this point in questions of separation of powers, Article II and the limits of executive power. A lawyer should be able to provide a thorough explanation of these and other constitutional issues to a non-lawyer. This book, more than any other in the area of constitutional law, prepares the practicing lawyer to do just that. It does not have an ideological emphasis or overarching point of view such as professor Tribe's book but questions Court reasoning in case decisions based on legal principles and inconsistencies in court application of the "tests" it has devised. In this fashion it engages the reader to question results and to think through the problem on his or her own. Unfortunately because of the case method approach used in almost all law schools there are too few texts of this caliber in law.