Preface to the fifth edition -- Acknowledgments -- 1. The background and purposes of the Constitution -- The colonial setting -- The Declaration of Independence -- The background of the Declaration -- The purpose of the document -- The idea of equality of human rights -- The purpose of government -- The right of revolution -- Charges against the English King -- Indictments against the King and the Parliament -- War atrocities and slavery -- Recapitulation of earlier petitions -- Conclusion -- The Articles of Confederation -- The background -- The principles and structures -- The achievements and problems -- Prelude to the Constitutional Convention -- The Constitutional Convention -- The delegates -- The rules -- The Virginia Plan -- The New Jersey Plan -- Prominent convention issues and compromises -- Ratification of the Constitution -- The Preamble -- The purposes of the Constitution -- References and suggestions for further study -- 6. Articles V-VII : the Amending Provision and miscellaneous matters -- Amending procedures -- The most common route for proposal and ratification -- The unused convention mechanism -- Rescissions and time limits -- Is the amending process exclusive? -- Unamendable provisions -- The history of amendments in the United States -- Article VI -- The continuing validity of debts -- The supremacy clause -- Oaths of office and prohibition of religious tests -- Article VII -- Ratification of the Constitution -- The attestation clause -- References and suggestions for further study -- 7. The Bill of Rights--The First Amendment -- Background -- Application of the Bill of Rights -- The Bill of Rights : a floor or a ceiling? -- The idea of rights -- The placement of the First Amendment -- The establishment and free exercise clauses -- The three-part lemon test and the wall of separation -- Application of the establishment clause -- To schools -- In other contexts -- The free exercise clause and the belief/practice dichotomy -- Application of the free exercise clause -- Justifications for Freedom of Speech -- Tests for subversive speech -- Subsidiary principles -- Obscenity -- Symbolic speech -- Fighting words and true threats -- Libel -- Commercial speech -- Campaign contributions -- Freedom of the press and prior restraint -- Other issues -- Assembly and petition -- References and suggestions for further study -- 2. Article I : the Legislative Branch -- The outline of the Constitution and separation of powers -- The priority of the Legislative Branch -- Bicameralism -- The U.S. House of Representatives -- Terms of office and qualifications for voters -- Qualifications for the House -- Representation and taxation -- The three-fifths clause -- Initial state representation -- House vacancies -- The Speaker of the House -- The power of impeachment -- The U.S. Senate -- Representation, voting, and terms -- Staggered Senate terms and vacancies -- Qualifications for the Senate -- The legislative role of the Vice President -- Other Senate officers -- Trials of impeachment -- The consequences of impeachment -- Other matters involving Congressional operations -- Elections for Congress -- Housekeeping provisions -- Congressional compensation -- Congressional privilege -- The Emoluments Clause -- Article I, Section 7--Procedures for passing laws -- The Origination Clause -- Procedures for lawmaking and presidential vetoes -- The Presentment Clause -- Article I, Section 8--Powers Granted to Congress -- The power of the purse -- Power to regulate commerce -- A note on Native Americans -- Power over naturalization and bankruptcies -- Coining money and establishing uniform standards -- Establishing a post office and promoting scientific advances -- Establishing lower courts -- War powers -- Calling the militia -- Governing the District of Columbia -- Implied powers -- Congressional investigations -- Article I, Section 9--Limits on Congressional powers -- Slave importation -- The suspension clause and the writ of habeas corpus -- Bills of attainder and ex post facto laws -- Economic protections for the states -- The appropriation of money -- Titles of nobility -- Article I, Section 10-Limits on the states -- Powers reserved to the national government -- The contract clause -- Other economic limits on the states -- References and suggestions for further study -- 3. Article II : the Executive Branch -- A single executive -- The Presidential term -- Presidential selection and the electoral college -- Presidential qualifications -- The Vice President and Presidential disability -- The Presidential salary -- The Presidential oath -- Presidential duties -- Commander in Chief -- Getting advice from the Cabinet -- Power to pardon and reprieve -- Negotiation and ratification of treaties -- Presidential appointment and removal powers -- Interim Presidential appointments -- The State of the Union Address -- Power to convene and adjourn Congress -- The President as chief diplomat -- Power to execute the laws and executive privilege -- Commissioning of military officers -- Presidential impeachment -- References and suggestions for further study -- 4. Article III : the Judicial Branch -- Organization and guidelines -- The U.S. Supreme Court and other inferior courts -- Judicial tenure -- Judicial qualifications -- Judicial compensation -- The number of Justices -- Supreme Court decisions -- Jurisdiction -- Cases based on subject matter and parties to the suit -- Cases of original and appellate jurisdiction -- Limits on the Judicial Branch -- The Political Questions Doctrine -- Judicial powers -- Statutory interpretation and Judicial review -- Marbury v. Madison -- Judicial review in practice -- The exceptions clause -- Protections -- Trial by jury -- Treason -- The nature of Article III -- References and suggestions for further study -- 5. Article IV : the Federal System -- Three forms of government -- Layer cake or marble cake? -- Obligations of states to one another -- The full faith and credit clause -- The privileges and immunities clause -- Extradition -- The fugitive slave clause -- The admission of new states -- Governing the territories -- Obligations of the nation to the states -- The guarantee clause -- Rejected doctrines of federalism -- Interposition -- Nullification -- Secession -- The status of local governments -- References and suggestions for further study -- 8. The Bill of Rights : of Arms and Men--Amendments 2-3 -- The right to bear arms -- The prohibition against quartering troops -- References and suggestions for further study -- 9. The Bill of Rights and the Rights of the Accused and the Convicted--Amendments 4-8 -- Searches and seizures -- An Amendment in two parts -- The reasonableness requirement -- Warrant requirements -- Administrative searches -- The Exclusionary Rule -- Indictment by Grand Jury -- The double jeopardy provision -- Protection against self-incrimination -- Real evidence versus testimonial evidence -- The due process clause -- The takings clause -- Speedy and public trials -- Right to a petit jury -- The rights of notification, confrontation, and compulsory process -- The right to counsel -- Petit juries in common law cases -- The Eighth Amendment -- Bail and fines -- Capital punishment -- Recidivism laws and proportionality concerns -- References and suggestions for further study -- 10. The Bill of Rights, the Rights of the States (Amendments 9-10), and Amendments 11 and 12 -- The Ninth Amendment and the right to privacy -- Two prominent views of the Amendment -- Birth control and abortion -- Other privacy issues -- The Tenth Amendment and states' rights -- The Eleventh Amendment and suits against the state -- The Twelfth Amendment and the electoral college -- Postscript to the election of 2000 -- References and suggestions for further study -- 11. The Post-Civil War Amendments--Amendments 13-15 -- Background -- The Thirteenth Amendment and the end of slavery -- Citizenship provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment -- Three important guarantees -- Supreme Court decisions limiting the impact of the Fourteenth Amendment -- Brown and the rebirth of the Fourteenth Amendment -- School busing and affirmative action programs -- Equal protection and gender-based classifications -- Equal protection and other classifications -- Equal protection and legislative apportionment -- A rebirth of the due process clause? -- Reversing the three-fifths clause -- Restrictions on former rebels -- Valid and invalid public debts -- Enforcement of the Fourteenth Amendment -- The Fifteenth Amendment -- The lesson of the postwar Amendments -- References and suggestions for further study -- 12. The Progressive Era Amendments--Amendments 16-19 -- The Sixteenth Amendment and the national income tax -- The Seventeenth Amendment and the election of U.S. Senators -- The Eighteenth Amendment and the national prohibition of alcohol -- The Nineteenth Amendment and women's suffrage -- References and suggestions for further study -- 13. The Recent Amendments--Amendments 20-27 -- The Lame-Duck Amendment -- Presidential vacancies -- The repeal of national alcohol prohibition -- A limit on Presidential terms of office -- Electoral votes for the District of Columbia -- The prohibition of poll taxes -- Vacancies and Disabilities -- Vacancies in the Vice Presidency -- Cases of presidential disability -- Eighteen year-olds and the right to vote -- A Twenty-seventh Amendment? -- Author's postscript on the American future -- References and suggestions for further study -- Reading Supreme Court decisions -- Locating cases and understanding citations -- Briefing cases -- Fifty case names and decisions -- Glossary -- Highlights of Constitutional history -- U.S. Supreme Court Justices -- Appendix 1. The Constitution of the United States -- Appendix 2. The Declaration of Independence -- Appendix 3: The Articles of Confederation -- Index.