Constitutional Law (4th edition)
-- a student textbook
by Rich Kitchens
Printed August, 2008…
· The same format as the previous edition, only with many new cases (updated through the 2007-08 term)
· Updated analysis of the “Roberts Court” and the Supreme Court nomination process
· Updated “PROBLEMS” and “HOT TOPICS” that will get students involved right now!
· Updated info on the road to the presidential nomination.
· We checked all the Internet links and edited and updated them!
· Improved and updated index and table of cases
· Same great LOW price of $30 per textbook
· An updated and expanded Teacher’s Guide that reflects contemporary events, updated links, and some new exercises and lessons
This is the ONLY textbook that approaches Constitutional Law in the high school through the inductive method. Hundreds of open-ended, thought-provoking questions challenge students to arrive at their own answers to enduring questions. Debate on fundamental issues is inevitable. Watch as your classroom comes alive with vigorous, intellectual battle. Class discussions rise to new levels of analysis.
Explore the BONG HiTS 4 JESUS case, the juvenile death penalty case, the death penalty for child rapists case, the gun ban case, the “millionaire exception” in campaign financing case, the passenger-in-the-car seizure case, the California gay marriage case, the enemy combatant case (Boumediene)…and many more
Students are encouraged to write their own opinions on the key legal questions of our time. The new 4th edition contains a dozen new cases, updated since the 3rd edition. Further, some of the key cases to be argued in the 2008-2009 term are previewed. Get your students involved before the oral arguments.
Courts around the United States are struggling with a new search and seizure warrant exception, commonly called the “community caretaker exception.” This edition of Constitutional Law is the only textbook that examines this emerging concept that students are becoming painfully aware of—the hard way. Your students will energetically debate the role of the police and the extent of the “exclusionary rule” in modern America.
Rich Kitchens has taught Constitutional Law at the HIGH SCHOOL level for more than twenty-five years. His course at Piedmont High—taught solely with his own textbook and kept updated with a keen eye for newsworthy events—uses the inductive method to encourage critical thinking and intellectual development. It does NOT emphasize rote learning. It IS challenging and invigorating…for the students as well as the teacher.
This twelfth grade level textbook contains more than two hundred open-ended problems to draw out student responses to the intellectually challenging curriculum. Nearly one hundred cases are factually summarized… and then the students have at them! Students learn by doing and become emotionally involved in their own learning. Dozens of “HOT TOPICS” focus student attention on one particular controversial area of the civic arena.
What is the structure of CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (4th)?
UNIT I. Introduction to law, the Constitution & the courts: Students are introduced to political theory and the development of constitutional rule, are immersed into the Constitution, and finish the unit with an exciting mock trial.
UNIT II. Federalism: Separation of Power/ Checks and Balances: Students read summaries of actual court cases, then research and develop their own arguments in a famous case, argue their side in front of the class (which sits as a "Supreme Court" and which must render written decisions). The cases are real—and so are the emotions as the students become involved in the intellectual vigor and competitiveness of oral advocacy.
UNIT III. Political Participation: Voting and the legislative process: Flexibility rules! Whether an election year or not, students get personally involved in the election process, and research and develop platforms from which they will run a Mock Assembly near the end of the course.
UNIT IV. Criminal Law and Procedure: Before the energizing subject of search and seizure, students look at the issue of crime, types of crimes, defenses to crimes—just as an attorney would. Students become captivated with the exclusionary rule and the Miranda rule. Capital punishment and "due process of law" become more than mere phrases.
UNIT V. Individual Rights and Liberties: The freedoms of speech, religion, press, and assembly are seen vividly in the real cases that help define our legal system. Students will debate the extent to which freedom of expression should be allowed in schools. Students will debate the extent to which they should be free to express their religious beliefs during commencement speeches. Students examine how affirmative action is evaluated and debate its efficacy in modern life. The legal tests for discrimination are evaluated just as the U.S. Supreme Court would do it.
UNIT VI. The Mock Assembly: Students can produce their own legislation, have it run through student- committees, ultimately to be tested—if it passes muster—on the floor of a culminating Mock Assembly. By now students debate the constitutionality of proposals, cite references and make oral arguments that would make many legislators proud. Whether this is the "final exam" of the course—or simply the final activity before a challenging paper-and-pencil test—students complete this course knowing they are among the most educated people in this country when it comes to CONSTITUTIONAL LAW!
CALL FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CONSTITUTIONAL LAW. GET A CHAPTER OF CON LAW (4th) EMAILED TO YOU FREE. RICH KITCHENS WILL RETURN YOUR CALL OR E-MAIL PROMPTLY.
Unique aspects of the text CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (4th)
* 304 text pages; 361 pages in total, including appendices and thorough indexes (including California required documents such as selections from The Federalist Papers—even the “Anti-Federalists”— and addresses from Washington and Lincoln
* Focuses on California, with special sections dealing with unique California law. Includes some key California cases including Serrano v. Priest and AAP v. Lungren, and recently-decided In re Marriage Cases case
* The 4th edition is up to date through the July, 2008 U.S. Supreme Court events
* Only $30.00, not including tax & shipping
* Useful as a supplementary text (for the case descriptions alone!) or as the main text for your course
* Includes instruction and exercises on rules of evidence and how to run a mock trial
* Addresses California’s Standards
* Contains a multitude of factual case summaries that challenge students to apply what they have learned, not just memorize it
* Special feature, “HOT TOPICS IN THE LAW,” keeps the information contemporary
* Web site and email updates available
* Author Rich Kitchens is available to give in-service training
WHY should you teach your Civics course as a course in CONSTITUTIONAL LAW?
WHY should your course use CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (4th)?
Contact us at: rich@conlawed.com
