Constitutional Law Casebooks
On February 21 and 22, 2025, William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal hosted its annual Symposium on the subject of Constitutional Law Casebooks at William & Mary Law School. Caroline Olsen, the Journal‘s Editor-in-Chief, and Professor Sanford Levinson of The University of Texas School of Law organized the Symposium, with support from the Institute of Bill of Rights Law. The Symposium brought together important creators of casebooks and thinkers about the pedagogy of constitutional law to discuss various issues related to the whole idea of casebooks and some of the problems presented by their creation and use.
Panelists articulated the basis for their casebook choices and grappled with the objective, audience, and influence of constitutional law casebooks more generally. Some authors, like Professors Chemerinsky, Balkin, and Levinson, are on their seventh or eighth edition of their constitutional law casebooks, while others, like Professors Blocher and Ponsa-Kraus, are publishing their first, blazing new trails in constitutional law pedagogy.
Panels included discussion of, and debate surrounding, the role of historical narrative in teaching constitutional law; how to teach constitutional law in controversial times; the influence of casebooks on what students view as authoritative doctrine and its impact on how constitutional issues are litigated; whether students should learn overruled cases; and the meaning of a “constitutional crisis” and whether the United States is in one today.
The Journal invited William & Mary Law and undergraduate students, many of whom are casebook “consumers,” to participate in these important conversations, motivated by this central question: What precisely should be taught about the U.S. Constitution at this point in our history?
Thank you to the leading constitutional law scholars who contributed to the event, including: Professors William Araiza, Jack Balkin, Randy Barnett, Jeffrey Bellin, Joseph Blocher, Erwin Chemerinsky, Neal Devins, Michael Dorf, William Funk, Mark Graber, Margaret Hu, Allison Orr Larsen, Sanford Levinson, Victoria Nourse, Christina D. Ponsa-Kraus, Mark Tushnet, Ernest Young, and Tim Zick.
Symposium essays will be published in Volume 34 of the Journal. In the meantime, check out Professor Michael Dorf’s Verdict article to learn more about the event.
