Constitutional Law in a Nutshell

This 11th edition of Constitutional Law in a Nutshell summarizes constitutional law from Marbury v. Madison (1803), to the present. The goal has been to discuss the Supreme Court's cases in enough detail to be helpful but not to be verbose in doing so. This edition includes over thirty new cases. Among the decisions featured in this edition are two highly controversial departures from the Court’s precedents. One such case is Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, 142 S. Ct. 2228 (2022), discussed in Chapter 5, where the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 U. S. 833 (1992). The Court held in Dobbs that no right to abortion is implicit in any provision of the Constitution including the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Justice Breyer, joined by Justices Sotomayor and Kagan, dissented and protested that Roe and Casey had “protected the liberty and equality of women” for half a century. Another controversial decision where the Court departed from precedent was Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. (SFFA) v. University of (more...)