In this, the second edition of State Constitutional Law: The Modern Experience, the authors present cases, scholarly writings, and other materials about our ever-evolving, ever-more-relevant state charters of government. The casebook starts by placing state constitutions in context--in the context of a federal system that leaves some powers exclusively with the States, delegates some powers exclusively to the Federal Government, and permits overlapping authority by both sovereigns in many areas. The resulting combination of state and federal charters--what might be called American Constitutional Law--presents fruitful opportunities for give and take, for exporting and importing constitutional tools and insights between and among the different sovereigns. The casebook often addresses the point by explaining how the U.S. Constitution deals with an issue before discussing how the state constitutions handle an identical or similar issue. At other times, the casebook explains and illustrates how the state constitutions contain provisions that have no parallel in the U.S. Constitution. A central theme of the book, explored in the context of a variety of constitutional guarantees, is that state constitutions provide a rich source of rights independent of the federal constitution. Considerable space is devoted to the reasons why a state court might construe the liberty and property rights found in their constitutions, to use two prominent examples, more broadly than comparable rights found in the U.S. Constitution. Among the reasons considered are: differences in the text between the state and federal constitutional provisions, the smaller scope of the state courts'' jurisdiction, state constitutional history, unique state traditions and customs, and disagreement with the U.S. Supreme Court''s interpretation of similar language. State constitutional law, like its federal counterpart, is not confined to individual rights. The casebook also explores the organization and structure of state and local governments, the method of choosing state judges, the many executive-branch powers found in state constitutions but not in their federal counterpart, the ease with which most state constitutions can be amended, and other topics, such as taxation, public finance and school funding. The casebook is not parochial. It looks at these issues through the lens of important state court decisions from nearly every one of our 50 States. In that sense, it is designed for a survey course, one that does not purport to cover any one State''s constitution in detail but that considers the kinds of provisions found in many state charters. Like a traditional contracts, real property or torts textbook, the casebook uses the most interesting state court decisions from around the country to illustrate the astonishing array of state constitutional issues at play in American Constitutional Law. It is difficult to overstate the growing significance of state constitutional law. Many of the ground-breaking constitutional debates of the day are being aired in the state courts under their own constitutions--often as a prelude to debates about whether to nationalize this or that right under the National Constitution. To use the most salient example, it is doubtful that there would have been a national right to marriage equality in 2015, see Obergefell v. Hodges, without the establishment of a Massachusetts right to marry in 2003, see Goodridge v. Department of Public Health. In other areas of constitutional litigation--gun rights, capital punishment, property rights, school funding, free exercise claims, to name but a few--state courts often are the key innovators as well, relying on their own constitutions to address individual rights and structural debates of the twenty-first century. The mission of the casebook is to introduce students to this increasingly significant body of American law and to prepare them to practice effectively in it.

This new case book addresses the constitutions of the 50 States. It is designed for a survey course, one that does not purport to cover every State's constitution in detail. Rather, like a traditional contracts, real property or torts textbook, it uses the most interesting state court decisions from around the country to illustrate the astonishing array of state constitutional issues at play in modern American law. The method of presentation emphasizes the function of state constitutions in our federal system. It sometimes does so by explaining how the U.S. Constitution deals with an issue before discussing how the state constitutions handle it, and it sometimes does so by explaining how the state constitutions contain provisions that have no parallel in the U.S. Constitution. A central theme of the book, explored in a variety of areas, is that state constitutions provide a source of rights independent of the Federal Constitution, and state courts frequently construe these provisions to grant more expansive protection for individual rights than the Federal Constitution provides. As the reader will see, the state courts' expansion of liberty and property rights under their constitutions stems from a variety of factors: differences in the text between the state and federal constitutional provisions, the smaller size of the state courts' jurisdiction, state constitutional history, unique state traditions and disagreement with the U.S. Supreme Court's interpretation of similar language. State constitutional law, like its federal counterpart, is not limited to individual rights. The book also explores the organization and structure of state and local governments, the method of choosing state judges, the ease with which most state constitutions can be amended, taxation, public finance and school funding. As the nightly news confirms, it is no exaggeration to say that many of the most ground-breaking constitutional debates of the day are being aired in the state courts under their own constitutions. The mission of this book is to introduce students to this increasingly significant body of American law and to prepare them to practice effectively in it.

The Law of American State Constitutions provides complete coverage of the legal doctrines surrounding, applying to, and arising from American state constitutions and their judicial interpretation. Using specific examples, Professor Williams provides legal analysis of the nature and function of state constitutions by contrast to the federal Constitution, including rights, separation of powers, policy-based provisions, the judicial interpretation issues that arise under state constitutions and the processes for their amendment and revision. Reference is made to history and political theory, but legal analysis is the primary focus. The Law of American State Constitutions provides an important analytical tool that explains the unique character and the range of judicial interpretation of these constitutions, together with the specialized techniques of argument and interpretation surrounding state constitutions. This is the first book to present a complete picture of the current body of state constitutional law and its judicial interpretation.

Stimson, Frederick Jesup. The Law of the Federal and State Constitutions of the United States With a Chronological Study of Their Principles, a Chronological Table of English Social Legislation and A Comparative Digest of the Constitutions of the Forty-Six States. Boston: The Boston Book Company, 1908. xix, 386 pp. Reprint available July 2004 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. LCCN 2003053950. ISBN 1-58477-369-3. Cloth. $95. * Stimson wrote this study in response to the rapid development of constitution law that took place around the turn of the century, which he attributes to the social impact of modern industrial capitalism. He notes that the enormous volume of cases regarding "obligation of contract" and "commerce among the states" indicates a general shift in the field from cases dealing with the federal constitution or individual state constitutions to cases involving several constitutions. This book was conceived as a guide to this new terrain. It continues to be an excellent comparative study of the federal and state constitutions. It is more that a series of comparisons, however. As its title suggests, Stimson includes a history of the provisions in each constitution and their origins. "A Valuable piece of work...in the field of legal and constitutional investigation." Columbia Law Review 8:594 cited in Marke, A Catalogue of the Law Collection at New York University (1953) 403.