Table of Contents

Part I: The Supreme Court and the Constitution
The Living Constitution
The Road to the Bill of Rights
The Amendment Process
The Supreme Court and the Amendment Process
Chapter 1: Understanding the U.S. Supreme Court
Processing Supreme Court Cases
Supreme Court Decision Making: Legalism
Supreme Court Decision Making: Realism
Conducting Research on the Supreme Court
Annotated Readings
Chapter 2: The Judiciary: Institutional Powers and Constraints
Judicial Review
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
Constraints on Judicial Power
Ex parte McCardle (1869)
Annotated Readings
Chapter 3: Incorporation of the Bill of Rights
Must States Abide by the Bill of Rights? Initial Responses
Barron v. Baltimore (1833)
Incorporation through the Fourteenth Amendment: Early Interpretations
Hurtado v. California (1884)
A Standard Emerges
Palko v. Connecticut (1937)
Incorporation in the Aftermath of Palko
Duncan v. Louisiana (1968)
Annotated Readings
Part II: Civil Liberties
Approaching Civil Liberties
Chapter 4: Religion: Exercise and Establishment
Defining Religion
Free Exercise of Religion
Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)
Sherbert v. Verner (1963)
Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)
Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith (1990)
City of Boerne v. Flores (1997)
Religious Establishment
Everson v. Board of Education (1947)
School District of Abington Township v. Schempp; Murray v. Curlett (1963)
Lemon v. Kurtzman; Earley v. DiCenso (1971)
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002)
Edwards v. Aguillard (1987)
Town of Greece v. Galloway (2014)
Van Orden v. Perry (2005)
Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2012)
Annotated Readings
Chapter 5: Freedom of Speech, Assembly, and Association
The Development of Legal Standards: The Emergence of Law in Times of Crisis
Schenck v. United States (1919)
Abrams v. United States (1919)
Gitlow v. New York (1925)
Dennis v. United States (1951)
Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)
Contemporary Tests and Constitutional Guidelines
Content and Contexts
United States v. O’Brien (1968)
Texas v. Johnson (1989)
Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942)
Cohen v. California (1971)
McCullen et al. v. Coakley, Attorney General of Massachusetts et al. (2014)
Snyder v. Phelps (2011)
United States v. Alvarez (2012)
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969)
Morse v. Frederick (2007)
West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)
Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc. (2006)
Bates v. State Bar of Arizona (1977)
Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corporation v. Public Service Commission of New York (1980)
Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (2000)
Annotated Readings
Chapter 6: Freedom of the Press
Prior Restraint
Near v. Minnesota (1931)
New York Times v. United States (1971)
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988)
Government Control of Press Content
News Gathering and Special Rights
Branzburg v. Hayes (1972)
Annotated Readings
Chapter 7: The Boundaries of Free Expression: Libel, Obscenity, and Emerging Areas of Government Regulation
Libel
New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)
Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (1988)
Obscenity
Roth v. United States (1957)
Miller v. California (1973)
New York v. Ferber (1982)
Cruelty and Violence
Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (2011)
Annotated Readings
Chapter 8: The First Amendment and the Internet
Shielding Children from Access to Sexually Explicit Material
Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union (1997)
Prohibiting Child Pornography
United States v. Williams (2008)
Emerging Issues
Annotated Readings
Chapter 9: The Right to Keep and Bear Arms
Initial Interpretations
The Second Amendment Revisited
District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)
Heller and the States
Annotated Readings
Chapter 10: The Right to Privacy
The Right to Privacy: Foundations
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
Reproductive Freedom and the Right to Privacy: Abortion
Roe v. Wade (1973)
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992)
Private Activities and the Application of Griswold
Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
Same-Sex Marriage
Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)
Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health (1990)
Annotated Readings
Part III: The Rights of the Criminally Accused
The Criminal Justice System and Constitutional Rights
Overview of the Criminal Justice System
Trends in Court Decision Making
Chapter 11: Investigations and Evidence
Searches and Seizures
Katz v. United States (1967)
United States v. Jones (2012)
Illinois v. Gates (1983)
Florida v. Jardines (2013)
Safford Unified School District #1 v. Redding (2009)
Terry v. Ohio (1968)
Enforcing the Fourth Amendment: The Exclusionary Rule
Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
United States v. Leon (1984)
Hudson v. Michigan (2006)
The Fifth Amendment and Self-Incrimination
Escobedo v. Illinois (1964)
Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
Missouri v. Seibert (2004)
Annotated Readings
Chapter 12: Attorneys, Trials, and Punishments
The Right to Counsel
Powell v. Alabama (1932)
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
The Pretrial Period and the Right to Bail
The Sixth Amendment and Fair Trials
Batson v. Kentucky (1986)
Sheppard v. Maxwell (1966)
Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia (1980)
Trial Proceedings
Final Trial Stage: An Overview of Sentencing
The Eighth Amendment
Gregg v. Georgia (1976)
Atkins v. Virginia (2002)
Posttrial Protections and the Double Jeopardy Clause
Postrelease Protections
Annotated Readings
Part IV: Civil Rights
Civil Rights and the Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment
Chapter 13: Discrimination
Race Discrimination and the Foundations of Equal Protection
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Sweatt v. Painter (1950)
Brown v. Board of Education (I) (1954)
Brown v. Board of Education (II) (1955)
Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971)
Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1; Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education (2007)
Modern-Day Treatment of Equal Protection Claims
Rational Basis Scrutiny
Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center (1985)
Strict Scrutiny and Claims of Race Discrimination
Loving v. Virginia (1967)
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)
Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)
Heightened Scrutiny and Claims of Gender Discrimination
Reed v. Reed (1971)
Craig v. Boren (1976)
United States v. Virginia (1996)
Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation
Romer v. Evans (1996)
Discrimination Based on Economic Status
San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez (1973)
Discrimination against Aliens
Plyler v. Doe (1982)
State Action Requirement
Shelley v. Kraemer (1948)
Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority (1961)
Moose Lodge No. 107 v. Irvis (1972)
Contemporary Developments in Discrimination Law
Annotated Readings
Chapter 14: Voting and Representation
Elections and the Court
Bush v. Gore (2000)
Voting Rights
South Carolina v. Katzenbach (1966)
Shelby Country, Alabama v. Holder, Attorney General, et al. (2013)
Crawford v. Marion County Election Board (2008)
Regulation of Election Campaigns
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)
McCutcheon, et al. v. Federal Election Commission (2014)
Political Representation
Reynolds v. Sims (1964)
Miller v. Johnson (1995)
Annotated Readings

About the Author

Lee Epstein (PhD, Emory University) is the University Professor of Law & Political Science and the Hilliard Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Southern California. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Political and Social Science. A recipient of 12 grants from the National Science Foundation, Epstein has authored or co-authored more than 100 articles and essays and 18 books. She is currently co-editing The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Judicial Behaviour. Professor Epstein’s empirical research is frequently cited in the New York Times, among other news media.

Thomas G. Walker (PhD, University of Kentucky) is the Goodrich C. White Professor Emeritus at Emory University, where he won several teaching awards for his courses on constitutional law and the judicial process. His book A Court Divided, written with Deborah J. Barrow, won the prestigious V. O. Key Award for the best book on Southern politics. He is the author of Eligible for Execution and coauthor of The Supreme Court Compendium: Data, Decisions, and Developments, 7th Edition, with Lee Epstein, Jeffrey A. Segal, and Harold J. Spaeth.

Reviews

"Constitutional Law for a Changing America: Rights, Liberties, and Justice is superb. It entertains students while forcing them to think about the cases and issues. That is a rare achievement for a textbook. [The book] does a great job of placing the cases within the context of their particular eras and reminds students that you cannot divorce courts and their rulings from the rest of the political structure and the times in which the opinions are issued. The text blends social science and law better than any other available today." 
*Robert M. Howard*

"Constitutional Law for a Changing America is a great teaching textbook. Most constitutional law textbooks begin with an interpretive essay, and then just give the cases one after the other in a separate section. [This book] introduces each topic in a comprehensive way, but then embeds the cases in a narrative that helps students see the cases in context. The authors do a great job of introducing each case, explaining how it relates to other cases and pointing out specific things to look for, to help students think about what they′re reading. Combined with the bullet points in the new editions summarizing the arguments for both sides in each case, this is tremendously effective in helping students learn and understand both the details of the cases and their broader significance. The photos and "Aftermath" boxes give students a vivid sense of human stories behind the cases. I use this book with confidence that it will help me teach more effectively." 
*John Kaplan*

"Constitutional Law for a Changing America perfectly balances contextual material with the text of the opinions. No other casebook comes close to matching the depth and breadth of supplementary information. The various tables, charts, and graphs all help students place the Court in the broader context of the American political system. The authors accomplish this while still maintaining a focus on constitutional questions and debates. Especially useful are the "Arguments" sections, which are an exceptionally effective tool for engaging students with the different perspectives in the cases." 
*Chad Westerland*

"My students like the Epstein/Walker text not only because the cases are edited in a way that allows for easy reading, but also because the facts and arguments of each case are separated from the decision itself, giving students some guidance in their reading. The additional excerpts provide context for students that they always want to discuss. As an instructor, I like the online bank of cases because the additional resources permit for flexibility in what cases I choose to cover in class." 
*Amanda DiPaolo*