GSU Library Research Guides: U.S. Constitution: Subject Guide: Constitutional Law Books

Introductory & Reference Resources

The following are just a few of the books available in the University Library. For additional books, search the Library Catalog.

Encyclopedia of the U. S. Supreme Court by Thomas Lewis (Editor); Richard L. Wilson (Editor); R. Kent Rasmussen (Editorial Coordinator); Dawn P. Dawson (Editor-In-Chief)
Call Number: Ref. KF8742.A35 E53 2001
Located on Library North 2, Reference collection (Non-Circulating)
ISBN: 0893560979
In three volumes. Offers a comprehensive guide to the justices and the landmark decisions that have defined the legal code throughout the history of the United States. Includes a glossary of legal terminology.
Guide to the U. S. Supreme Court by David G. Savage
Call Number: Ref. KF8742 .W567 2010
Located on Library North 2, Reference collection (Non-Circulating)
ISBN: 0872894231
explains everything readers need to know about the Supreme Court, from its origins and how it functions to the people who have shaped it and the impact of its decisions on American life and the path of U.S. constitutional law. Includes brief discussions of landmark decisions and key cases.
Encyclopedia of the American Constitution
Call Number: Ref. KF4548 .E53 2000
Library North 2, Reference collection (Non-Circulating)
ISBN: 0028648803
Contains essays by leading constitutional scholars, law school professors, judges, historians, and political scientists on practical and theoretical topics dealing with every aspect of constitutional law in the U.S., from the Constitutional Convention in 1787 to the Clinton impeachment.
Encyclopedia of the First Amendment by David L. Hudson; David Schultz (Editor); John R. Vile
Call Number: Ref. KF4770 .E53 2009
Located on Library North 2, Reference collection (Non-Circulating)
ISBN: 0872893111
Traces themes like expressive rights in American political and legal history, in American political thought and social movements, in political and popular culture, and in the arts, along with the classic tensions between freedom of the individual and maintenance of political order. The set also features a chronology, seven introductory essays covering the core rights and liberties, a bibliography, and subject and case indexes. Additional tables of content give readers easy ways to find entries by topic or case.
A practical companion to the Constitution : how the Supreme Court has ruled on issues from abortion to zoning by Jethro K. Lieberman
Call Number: KF4548 .L54 1999
Located on Library North, floor 4
ISBN: 0520212800
Treats every aspect of the Constitution and every constitutional topic in alphabetical order, in more than 1,000 short essays.

Case Analysis Yearbooks / Reviews

Supreme Court Yearbook by Joan Biskupic
Call Number: KF8741.A152 S87
Located on Library North 4
ISBN: 087187590X
Provides in-depth coverage and analysis of every decision from the nation's highest court for the year covered. Includes complete case summaries; background. Volumes owned: 1990/1991-2000-2001.
The Supreme Court Review by Dennis J. Hutchinson (Editor); David A. Strauss (Editor); Geoffrey R. Stone (Editor)
Call Number: KF8748 .A1
Located on Library North 4.
ISBN: 022605201X
"For fifty years, The Supreme Court Review has been lauded for providing authoritative discussion of the court's most significant decisions. The Review is an in-depth annual critique of the Supreme Court and its work, keeping up on the forefront of the origins, reforms, and interpretations of American law. Recent volumes have considered such issues as post-9/11 security, the 2000 presidential election, cross-burning, federalism and state sovereignty, failed Supreme Court nominations, and numerous First- and Fourth-Amendment cases."

Discussions of Landmark Cases

Landmark Supreme Court Cases : The Most Influential Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States by Richard A. Leiter
Call Number: KF8742 .H37 2012
ISBN: 1438137427
Ebook, providing concise summaries of more than 350 of the most important and influential United States Supreme Court cases. Arranged by topic. A print copy of this book is available in the Law Library under the same call number.
Historic U. S. Court Cases by John W. Johnson (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. KF385.A4 J64 2001
Located on Library North 2, Reference collection (Non-Circulating)
ISBN: 0415930197
Provides info on over 200 major court cases, at both state and federal levels, from the colonial period to the present.
Great American Court Cases Series by Mark F. Mikula (Editor); L. Mpho Mabunda (Editor); Allison McClintic Marion (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. KF385.A4 G68 1999
Located on Library North 2, Reference collection (Non-Circulating)
ISBN: 0787629472
This 4-volume set contains approximately 800 cases, organized by broad legal principles, then arranged alphabetically under the more specific legal issues.
The Oxford Guide to United States Supreme Court Decisions by Kermit Hall (Editor); James W. Ely (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. KF4548.5 .O97 2009
Located on Library North 2, Reference collection (Non-Circulating)
ISBN: 019537939X
Provides insightful accounts of 450 major Supreme Court cases, from Marbury v. Madison and Scott v. Sandford (the Dred Scott decision) to Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade.
Supreme Decisions : Great Constitutional Cases and Their Impact by Melvin I. Urofsky
Call Number: KF4550 .U76 2012
Located on Library North 4
ISBN: 0813347351
Covers twenty-four Supreme Court cases that have shaped American constitutional law. Interpretive chapters shed light on the nuances of each case, the individuals involved, and the social, political, and cultural context at that particular moment in history.
Landmark Decisions of the United States Supreme Court I by Maureen Harrison (Editor); Steve Gilbert (Editor)
Call Number: KF4549 .L37 1991
Located on Library North 4
ISBN: 0962801410
Covers landmark cases on school desegregation, obscenity, school prayer, fair trials, sexual privacy, censorship, abortion, affirmative action, book banning, and flag burning.

Cases on Specific Topics

The links below will take you to a list of books available in the various GSU libraries on the specific topics adjudicated by the Supreme Court.

Discussions of Specific Chief Justices

The links below will take you to a list of books available in the various GSU libraries on the life and court of the Supreme Court Chief Justices. The Chief Justice sets the agenda for the weekly meetings where the justices review the petitions, to decide whether to hear or deny each case. The Chief Justice also presides over oral arguments before the court, usually speaks first, and when the court renders an opinion, the Chief Justice—when in the majority—decides who writes the court's opinion. The power to determine the opinion author (including the option to select oneself) allows a Chief Justice in the majority to influence the historical record.

Name of Justice / Term of Service

Judicial Review

Judicial review is the doctrine under which legislative and executive actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with judicial review power may invalidate laws and decisions that are incompatible with a higher authority, such as the terms of a written constitution.

The Supreme Court and judicial review in American history by Kermit L. Hall
Call Number: KF4575 .H36 1985
Located on Library North 4
ISBN: 0872290301
The Supreme Court's Constitution : an inquiry into judicial review and its impact on society by Bernard H. Siegan
Call Number: KF4550 .S48 1986
Located on Library North 4
ISBN: 0887381278
Provides a detailed analysis of the Constitution and numerous Supreme Court cases involving controversial issues.
The Constitution and the Court by Robert S. Hirschfield
Call Number: KF4550.Z9 H55
Located on Library North 4
Publication Date: 1962
The development of the basic law through judicial interpretation.
Constitutional fate: theory of the constitution by Philip Bobbitt
Call Number: KF4575 .B63
Located on Library North, floor 4
Studies the basis for the legitimacy of judicial review by examining six types of constitutional argument--historical, textual, structural, prudential doctrinal, and ethical--through the unusual method of contrasting sketches of prominent legal figures responding to the constitutional crises of their day.