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Casebooks And Constitutional Competency, David E. Engdahl

Seattle University Law Review

Today's casebooks are far better adapted for fostering constitutional competency among lawyers than were their earlier counterparts. Part 1 of this Article traces the evolution of the constitutional law casebook from James Bradley Thayer's massive compilation of raw data in the Dean Langdell tradition, to the modern style of extensively edited cases with comments and questions to help students identify, anticipate, and assess potential avenues of analysis and development. Part 2 examines some basic concepts of federalism law still afforded too little attention by casebook editors. The classic analysis of enumerated powers (including Congress's power under the necessary and proper …