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West Academic Study Aids
The West Academic Study Aid subscription allows access to electronic copies of a variety of legal study aids, including the Acing, Exam Pro, and Nutshell series.

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Law School Hints and News

Consolidate Smaller Tasks into a Single Time Slot to Enhance Your Efforts

During law school, health and life-maintaining activities can get pushed set aside to address pressures such as reading for class, studying, and pursuing internships and job leads. While giving important projects the time they need is good, you should take time to maintain your well-being.

You can do a lot in five minutes to improve your quality of life. You can work out. You can breathe and meditate to reduce stress. You can even make microwave meals in a mug. While taking five minutes for life-maintaining tasks is great, setting aside a set time in your schedule to bundle together smaller tasks into a concentrated effort has been found to have several positive effects. By deliberately accomplishing a series of smaller tasks, you can enter a state of flow, knock several items off your to-do list, and clean up your mental and physical spaces from the clutter that can unconsciously distract you.

Monthly Showcase

This month’s display features titles on the American Constitution.

100 Americans Making Constitutional History by Melvin I. (Irving) Urofsky (Editor)
ISBN: 1568027990
Publication Date: 2004-04-28
100 Americans Making Constitutional History: A Biographical History presents 100 profiles of the key people behind some of the most important U.S. Supreme Court cases. Edited by Melvin I. Urofsky, a respected constitutional historian, each 2,000-word profile delves into the social and political context behind landmark Court decisions. For example, while a case like Brown v. Board of Education is about an important idea the equal protection of the law at its heart it is the story of a little girl, Linda Brown, who wanted to go to a decent school near her home. The outcome is accessible and objective stories about the individuals heroes and scoundrels who fought their way to constitutional history. 100 Americans Making Constitutional History helps students understand the human side of the Supreme Court's decisions from the early republic to the present. Each biographical profile, written by a constitutional scholar or legal analyst, includes a discussion about the Court decision and how the specific legal issues evolved into great constitutional questions and drama. It puts a face and history to major cases by reminding the reader that there are people behind them, seeking vindication of their individual liberties and civil rights. Each profile includes a brief bibliography for further research. Excellent for undergraduate students studying American government, American history, Constitutional Law and journalism. Sample List of Litigants Larry Flynt- Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell (1988) Elmer Gertz- Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. (1974) Demetrio Rodriguez- Rodriguez v. San Antonio Independent School District (1973) Curt Flood- Flood v. Kuhn (1972) Estelle Griswold- Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) Linda Brown- Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Gordon Hirabayashi- Hirabayashi v. United states (1943) Eugene Debs- Debs v. United states (1919) William Marbury- Marbury v. Madison (1803)
American Constitutional Law by Alpheus Thomas Mason; Donald Grier Stephenson
ISBN: 0131174371
Publication Date: 2004-06-25
Intended for one/two-semester, sophomore/graduate-level courses in American Constitutional Law, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and American Constitutional History, this collection of Supreme Court case excerpts and essays explores constitutional law and the role of the Supreme Court in its development and interpretation.
Democracy and the Constitution by Walter Berns
ISBN: 0844742392
Publication Date: 2006-09-05
For more than half a century, Walter Berns has been a leading authority on the Constitution. This volume collects many of his most important essays on timeless constitutional and political questions.
ISBN: 9781107642577
Constitutional Theory by Michael J. Gerhardt; Stephen M. Griffin; Thomas D. Rowe; Lawrence B. Solum
ISBN: 9780769865195
Publication Date: 2013-12-01
This text covers the central debates in contemporary American constitutional theory and demonstrates the connection between theory and judicial practice, politics, and academic scholarship. This foundation prepares students to analyze the events in which constitutional theory is likely to play a significant role, such as Supreme Court confirmations proceedings, separation of powers conflicts, and constitutional interpretation and political disputes regarding civil rights and civil liberties. Among the changes in the Fourth edition: All chapters have been updated to reflect the current state of constitutional theory; Completely new chapters on: constitutional change; conservatives and constitutional theory; progressives and constitutional theory; and the US Constitution and global constitutionalism; New editor Lawrence Solum produces a state of the art chapter on originalism.; Throughout, selections present opposing views to make students aware of existing conflicts and to facilitate discussion. A Teacher's Manual is available to professors.
Is the American Constitution Obsolete? by Thomas J. Main (Editor)
ISBN: 9781594609589
Publication Date: 2013-01-01
Americans revere their Constitution but are disturbed by growing signs of political dysfunction. We have placed in the White House candidates who have not won a majority of the popular vote. In this time of war, fears of an imperial presidency persist. Gridlock prevents reform in arms control, immigration, and other vital areas. An economic crisis generates fears that the system may not be able to respond effectively. Can we solve the problems we face under the current Constitution or does the 21st Century call for a new Magna Carta? These questions are debated by a group of distinguished contributors that includes: Akhil Amar (Yale Law School), Mark Tushnet (Harvard Law School), Stephen Macedo (Princeton University), Larry J. Sabato (University of Virginia), and others. Among the topics debated here are: does the Constitution encourage gridlock?; judicial review and democracy; an imperial presidency; and race and the Constitution. Is the American Constitution Obsolete? is the most comprehensive one-volume debate on the pros and cons of our basic law and is ideal reading for courses that cover the Constitution. "[T]he contributors [...] provide nuanced interpretations of the Constitution and the causes of contemporary political woes. While none of the contributors call for the Constitution, as William Lloyd Garrison did, to be 'immediately annulled' (p.11), the volume does encourage us to view the Constitution with less reverence and, instead, with more reason--a practical guide for democratic governance. Because of the focus between constitutional design and political problems, historical institutionalists will find much in this book. ...[This] volume would be an appropriate text for upper-division seminars exploring the relationship between constitutionalism and political problems." -- Michael A. Dichio, The Law and Politics Book Review
Our Elusive Constitution by Daniel N. Hoffman
ISBN: 0791435024
Publication Date: 1997-08-14
This volume explores the relationship between religion and politics. It brings a varied sample of richly detailed comparative and case studies together with a set of analytical paradigms in an integrated framework. It is a major statement on a timely subject, and a plea for the acknowledgment of normative pluralism as firmly rooted in the history of religion. The editor shows that the fact of political diversity in the history of world religions compels the acceptance of pluralism as a normative principle.
The Constitution in the Supreme Court by David P. Currie
ISBN: 0226131092
Publication Date: 1992-09-01
Currie's masterful synthesis of legal analysis and narrative history, gives us a sophisticated and much-needed evaluation of the Supreme Court's first hundred years. "A thorough, systematic, and careful assessment. . . . As a reference work for constitutional teachers, it is a gold mine."--Charles A. Lofgren, Constitutional Commentary
Understanding Constitutional Law by Norman Redlich; John Attanasio; Joel K. Goldstein
ISBN: 0820561371
Publication Date: 2007-03-16
Understanding Constitutional Law covers all of the central concepts and issues students encounter in any basic constitutional law course. Structure of Government issues revolve around the twin themes of federalism and separation of powers. Individual rights and liberties follow a concept organization-Due Process, Equal Protection, and First Amendment. Clearly written and authoritative, Understanding Constitutional Law addresses the central concepts and issues students encounter in most Constitutional Law casebooks. Structure of government issues revolve around the twin themes of federalism and separation of powers. Individual rights and liberties follow a concept organization - Due Process, Equal Protection, and First Amendment.
The Constitution of the United States of America by Mark Tushnet
ISBN: 9781841137384
Publication Date: 2009-01-15
This book provides a critical introduction to the history and current meaning of the United States' Constitution. It is organised around two themes: Firstly, the US Constitution is old, short, and difficult to amend. These characteristics have made constitutional 'interpretation', especially by the US Supreme Court, the primary mechanism for adapting the Constitution to ever-changing reality. Secondly, the Constitution creates a structure of political opportunities that allows political actors, including political parties, to pursue the preferred policy goals even to the point of altering the very structure of politics. Politics, that is, often gives meaning to the Constitution. Deploying these themes to examine the structure of the national government, federalism, judicial review, and individual rights, the book provides basic information about, and deeper insights into, the way the US constitutional system has developed and what it means today.
Constitutional Law by Christopher N. May; Allan Ides
ISBN: 0735520003
Publication Date: 2001-01-12
The Second Edition of this Constitutional Law study-aid continues to offer complete coverage as part of a two-volume set. Along with its companion volume -- Individual Rights -- these two ancillary texts compose a foundation in the doctrines and methods of Constitutional Law, and motivate students to think about the larger issues of Consitutional Law with depth and perception. Features of this study aid include: an expert author team with over 40 years combined experience straightforward material that is not overly simplistic a problem-oriented guide that takes students through the principal doctrines of Constitutional Law that are covered in a typical course hands-on sections that explain legal concepts and principles, followed by examples and analyses that illustrate how to apply these concepts and principles in hypothetical situations organization that parallels the major casebooks What's NEW in the Second Edition? discussions of all major Supreme Court decisions through the end of the 1999-2000 term updated problems and changes based upon major rulings by the Supreme Court a detailed index keyed to pages rather than to sections for easier access by students
The Language of Law and the Foundations of American Constitutionalism by Gary L. McDowell
ISBN: 9780521140911
Publication Date: 2010-06-28
For much of its history, the interpretation of the United States Constitution presupposed judges seeking the meaning of the text and the original intentions behind that text, a process that was deemed by Chief Justice John Marshall to be "the most sacred rule of interpretation." Since the end of the nineteenth century, a radically new understanding has developed in which the moral intuition of the judges is allowed to supplant the Constitution's original meaning as the foundation of interpretation. The Founders' constitution of fixed and permanent meaning has been replaced by the idea of a "living" or evolving constitution. Gary L. McDowell refutes this new understanding, recovering the theoretical grounds of the original Constitution as understood by those who framed and ratified it. It was, he argues, the intention of the Founders that the judiciary must be bound by the original meaning of the Constitution when interpreting it.

FAMU Law Library Online Repository

Be sure to visit the Library’s Online Repository at http://commons.law.famu.edu/.

The Repository holds a variety of publications and documents that could be useful for projects and research. Alumni, faculty, and student academic publications are available free to access to anyone on the web and cover a wide variety of topics. Through the online repository platform, FAMU College of Law’s Scholarly Commons scholarship has reached thousands of researchers around the world. To see the readership that the College's scholarship has, you can view the daily downloads of the Repository’s holdings through a map located at the bottom of the main page.

The Repository also hosts materials on FAMU College of Law’s founding, including information on the efforts of Virgil Hawkins to enter into the profession of law.

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