A Companion to the United States Constitution and Its Amendments

This new edition updates the classic clause-by-clause examination of the Constitution and its Amendments as interpreted by the Supreme Court from 1789 to 2009.

A Companion to the United States Constitution and Its Amendments is designed to show students just how revolutionary the Constitution was―and how relevant it remains today. The Companion begins by revisiting the key events leading to the Constitution's ratification, including the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention, then goes article by article, amendment by amendment, to describe each section of the document, as well as the important court cases that add to its meaning.

The fully updated new edition of A Companion to the United States Constitution and Its Amendments reflects a number of significant developments in the five years since the previous edition, including the appointments of new Supreme Court justices, impactful cases involving First Amendment rights for students, religious displays on government property, gun control in the District of Columbia, presidential powers in the context of the war on terror, corporate fraud liability, gay rights, and the recent presidential election.

• Includes copies of original documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the U.S. Constitution

• Provides a chronology of key events in constitutional history from the Magna Carta (1215) to the present

• Each chapter has a bibliography of cases and/or primary and secondary materials, many of which are quite extensive

• A glossary of key law and political science terms

• Offers appendices, including a list of U.S. Supreme Court Justices and their dates of service and thumbnails of the 50 leading cases decided by the Supreme Court