"Unreasonable Searches and Seizures: Rights and Liberties under the Law" provides a comprehensive exploration of the development of the Fourth Amendment from the late 18th century to the present. The work clearly explains complex legal questions and pivotal judicial decisions, illustrating the controversial nature of Fourth Amendment issues and differentiating between reasonable and unreasonable searches and seizures.

Presenting a wealth of cases and examples, the authors analyze important developments, such as the impact of the Supreme Court's decision in "Weeks v. United States"...

"Freedom of Association: Rights and Liberties under the Law" chronicles the evolution of a right derived from but not granted in the First Amendment--freedom of association. An opening analysis of the Supreme Court's ruling against a gay adult member of the Boy Scouts of America illustrates the range and complexity of this issue.

Historical discussions of colonial America, including the British Parliament's efforts to suppress political associations, set the stage for a careful scrutiny of the political and legislative activities of the 1950s and 1960s when the Supreme Court established...

In a field dominated by jargon-filled texts and march-of-progress treatments, this book presents an insightful introduction to freedom of speech, skillfully blending legal analysis with accounts of how staunchly contested historical, political, and cultural issues often influenced legal reasoning.

The volume traces the origins of the freedom in English law and its development through the founding of the United States, and examines how the unique struggles of 19th century Americans over such issues as political parties, slavery, women's rights, and economic inequality transformed this...

"The Right to Privacy: Rights and Liberties under the Law" measures the impact of what Louis Brandeis called, "The most comprehensive of rights and the most valued by civilized man." As the book shows, an individual's right to privacy is not a written-in-stone concept, but one that emerged from the "shadows" of a number of amendments and court decisions. The book traces that concept to its philosophical and common law roots, then looks at how privacy rights have been interpreted, expanded, and sometimes curtailed throughout the 20th century.

It concludes with a review of privacy rights...

Legal opinions and public attitudes toward property rights have fluctuated over the years, from periods when almost any infringement of these rights was impermissible, to times in which the government was granted much wider latitude. This book examines the history of individual property ownership in the U.S. from the late colonial era to the present, explaining how property rights were established, defended, and sometimes later reinterpreted. Of special interest are rights that have developed over time, such as due process, just compensation for government "takings" of private property,...

The first boatloads of European settlers did not come to America advocating religious tolerance. They came seeking the freedom to practice their own religion. Other sects, they believed, were wrong at best and, at worst, not to be tolerated.

The question of what constitutes "legitimate," constitutionally protected religious practice has been debated ever since. Does it include the use of peyote? Polygamy? Refusing medical care for a sick child? "Freedom of Religion" follows the evolving understanding of the concept of religious freedom from Great Britain to the New World, through...

The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution created one of the nation's most valued freedoms but, at the same time, one of its most persistent controversies. On 184 separate occasions, the Supreme Court attempted to decide what constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment."

Constitutional scholars Joseph A. Melusky and Judge Keith A. Pesto help readers make sense of the controversy. The authors begin by sketching the context of the debate in a general overview that addresses issues such as excessive bails and fines, and noncapital offenses. But their primary focus is capital punishment....

"Freedom of the Press: Rights and Liberties under the Law" examines the evolution of press freedom in America, a particularly relevant topic given the controversy over the role of the press in the war in Iraq, as well as the growing concentration of ownership of the press, and the impact of the Internet on traditional journalism. An opening analysis of challenges from recent developments like Internet journalist Matt Drudge's "Drudge Report" illustrates the opportunities and implications of a press operating without the traditional gate-keeping process.

A historical overview of...