Customer Rating:  
Summary: Not useful outside a high school course
Comment: The book is probably adequate as a textbook in a high school covering an introduction to Constitutional Law. I was particularly hoping that in the cases discussed would be curfews, possession codes (are nail files, Boy Scout knives, or over-the-counter medications contraband), challenges to corporal punishment by means other than 8th Amendment protections (such as criminal assault and battery), or mandatory service requirements. None of these fit in the narrow focus of the book. Even the Search-and-Seizure chapter, where the protections are certainly under the 4th Amendment and within the scope of the book, only contained two cases, addresses students' persons and belongings, but not lockers or desks, nor, except peripherally, the testimony of trained dogs. Again, this is probably a fine selection of cases to provide jumping-off points for a semester civics unit in a high school. It's not the book I was hoping to find, and I'll have to look elsewhere to learn about what civil rights protect high school students and other minors in various other situations. Disclaimer: I've watched this brilliant and ambitious author's star rise over the past quarter century; I doubt that as a fellow resident of the same freshman dormitory I made the same impression on him.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great text for high school students
Comment: This book is the text you wish you had in high school. It takes on the legal issues that have shaped our society through the eyes of the high school student. The author suceeds in distilling the facts and spirit of these historic moments in an accessible and non-condescending manner. I have enjoyed exploring this book with my kids.A real teaching tool, effective despite its modest size.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not Quite a High School Textbook
Comment: After teaching two semesters out of this book at the high school level, I found that I and the students were reading less and less of this book. At first, I was excited by about the book. However, it began to drag on me, when I soon realized, that there was no teacher's edition, no real high school activities, and limited reveiw questions. I had to start writing entire chapters and rarely used the actual textbook. The material was vague and over general at best. Little research was done into the deeper issues that can make the cases come alive. However, the lack of activities kill this book for me and I wonder why I switch from the Street Law book in the first place. Next year, I'll go back.
Customer Rating:
Summary: In their own words
Comment: As a journalism teacher, I've been piecing together parts of Supreme Court cases for years. The words of the justices form the core of free speech law and students need to read the cases to truly understand their rights. The problem, however, was that much of the writing, thick with legalese and sidetracks, was beyond the grasp of most students. Raskin has changed that by editing the cases down to their essential arguments and introducing them in a way that students can understand. Well done.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Breakthrough Work for High School Students
Comment: This is a spectacular book. It puts together the most important cases the Supreme Court ever handed down about high school students and analyzes what they mean for high school students on an everyday basis. As a college freshman, I wish that I had had access to We the Students for the last four years when I really needed it! The book also has some really amazing photos of the high school students that were in the cases, which makes the text come alive. This new approach to teaching the Constitution-through cases that ffect us directly as students-truly surpasses the boredom that arises in more conventional methods of teaching law. Great book! Looking forward to sequel for college students...
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