A Practical Companion to the Constitution: How the Supreme Court Has Ruled on Issues from Abortion to Zoning

Rating:
Summary: An invaluable book by a great teacher
Review: Professor Lieberman teaches Constitutional Law at New York Law School. I was privileged to study under him in 1998. He is an immensely knowledgeable man with an unmatched talent for clarity of communication. I am pleased to be able to recommend this book to all readers. For further insight regarding our highest court, I also recommend New York Law School's Dean Harry H. Wellington's very fine book, Interpreting the Constitution: The Supreme Court and the Process of Adjudication.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Reference for Lawyers and Non-Lawyers
Review: The bulk of A Practical Companion to the Constitution is in dictionary form and provides throrough but concise accessible explanations of the key concepts and terms of art of constitutional analysis. Each entry is also cross-referenced with other related concepts and definitions to aid the reader in fully understanding the concepts discussed. Professor Lieberman also places each entry into a historical context so that the reader may trace the development of doctrines and concepts and understand not only where a doctrine originated but where the state of the law or doctrine stands today. For example, under the entry for "Incorporation Doctrine," Professor Lieberman provides us with a brief explanation of the concept, and then traces the concept through its history and application. At the end of the entry, we find a list of which amendments have been incorporated onto the states, the rights implicated in the incorporation, and the year the amendment was incorporated. Indeed, I was most impressed with how Professor Lieberman has throughout the book explained the abstract concepts of Fourteenth Amendment analysis into easily understandable terms without oversimplifying or doing violence to the concepts. Other sections of the book provide summaries of the cannons of constitutional interpretation so that the reader has a basic understanding of the tools of textual interpretation. Finally, Professor Lieberman provides a thorough table of cases and brief biographical sketches of the justices who have served on the Supreme Court. I give this reference book my highest recommendation. It is a must for law students. It is an excellent resource for lawyers looking for the vocabulary to explain in accessible terms the abstractions of constitutional analysis. It is invaluable for the non-lawyer seeking to understand better the constitution.