- thorough treatment of all areas of constitutional law covered in both beginning and advanced courses

- direct, unambiguous identification of the issues

- takes a neutral approach that examines all sides of constitutional law debates

- presents both the doctrines and the underlying policy issues of the law, unlike many other texts which emphasize one or the other

- flexible organization allows the chapters to be used in any order

For the Third Edition, the author:

- updated the entire text, with new material introduced throughout

- paid special attention to developments since publication of the second edition, particularly in regard to presidential power in the war on terrorism, the many decisions concerning state sovereign immunity, the controversial rulings concerning the takings clause, the important decisions concerning affirmative action by colleges and universities, and significant developments concerning the Establishment Clause (such as the approval of vouchers and the Ten Commandments decisions)

- covered the most recent and significant cases, among them Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (executive power to detain enemy combatants), Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs and Tennessee v. Lane (sovereign immunity), Gonzales v. Raich (Congress's ability to prohibit possession and cultivation of marijuana for medicinal purposes), Kelo v. City of New London (takings clause), Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger (equal protection), Lawrence v. Texas (sexual privacy), and Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (vouchers)