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

All con law students should be grateful that one of the nation's leading Constitutional practitioners and professors has written this book. Its size is intimidating, but that's because it covers far more territory than the typical intro con law class. It's so well-done, though, that it's something serious students and lawyers will want on their bookshelves long after the first year -- as a supplement for advanced-topics classes, and as an essential reference work.

The book is well-organized in an outline format with headings and subheads, so you can easily follow the thread of complex doctrine over time, like the Commerce Clause, or across its varied applications, like Equal Protection. Chapters are thorough but well divided. The organization allows you to find exactly what you need and to zero in on a particular narrow point or case, or to read more expansively about a doctrine's development, change, and varied application. Chemerinsky's prose is neutral, straightforward, always clear. He's analytical but doesn't make arguments. You couldn't say his writing has personality, but it is quite readable.

This book is the con law supplement of choice at my school (Michigan). No one I know has regretted buying it.


The most valuable study aide of ALL TIME   October 20, 2004
2L (Sycamore, IL)
30 out of 31 found this review helpful

This is probably the best money I spent my first year of law school. I am still using this book for Con Law II in my second year of school, and it is still just as invaluable to me. For Constitutional Law, canned briefs like legal lines do you no good. You need someone to spell out the principles and the analysis. No one does this as well as Chemerinsky. I could probably name at least 10 other students at school who ordered this book after they saw my copy. My text book for Constitutional Law is a piece of crap, and I would not learn anything if it were not for Chemerinsky. I have a different teacher for my second semester of Con Law, and he teaches verbatim from this book. My first Con Law professor was so impressed from a comment I made in class through something I had read in Chemerinsky that she came up to me after class and thanked me for helping further the class discussion. She was so impressed that I didn't want to tell her I was a fraud! I credit my final grade for Con Law I to Chemerinsky as well.

I know the price for this study aide is a little higher than some of the others, but you will get to use it for at least two semesters. I also heard it is helpful if you take a class on the First Amendment.

Other study aides I bought were barely opened. This one was read more than my text book!

(I never bother to write reviews. That is how pleased I am with how much this book helped me.)


There is none better   November 26, 1999
R. Wentworth (Denver, CO USA)
49 out of 54 found this review helpful

I am a law student and used Mr. Chemerinsky's book during my studies in Constitutional law and for some time now after my classes in this field. This is better than any text book and was recommended by EVERY professor of Constitutional law at my school. It is an awesome book on almost everything you wanted to know about Constitutional law.


Con Law is suddenly clear to me now!   February 10, 2003
Anneke H. Niemira (Fairfax, VA USA)
18 out of 19 found this review helpful

My Con Law prof is using Sullivan's "Constitutional Law" (14th Ed., University Casebook Series) as our textbook, and our entire class is overwhelmed by both the concepts and the density of the reading (it takes four hours to read 25 pages!).

Then I picked up this book by Chemerinksy, which recommended by our professor. It's /amazing/. We're working on the dormant commerce clause, and Chemerinsky sets out everything incredibly clearly, citing cases (rather than including the entire case itself) and setting out black letter law in an explanation of the Court's rulings. Everything is much easier to understand, and it's much easier to pick out the important issues in the textbook when I read the next assignment. I recommend reading Chemerinsky first, and the textbook second, so the rules pop out at you more readily.


An excellent guide to Con law   March 24, 2006
Seth Aaron Lowry (Olean, NY United States)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful

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.