This book provides a comprehensive overview of modern and historical understandings of the pre-trial rights guaranteed by the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments. Rather than focusing on holdings, it focuses on concepts and rationales. Carefully edited majority, concurring, and dissenting opinions convey the development of criminal constitutional law, exposing recurring themes and ideas across cases and over the decades.

The Supreme Court's classic and recent cases are organized around a politically agnostic conceptual approach, allowing students to grasp competing theories for understanding the key concepts underlying searches and seizures, interrogations, and the exclusionary rules. "Points for Discussion" following each case focus students on the points of contention among the justices, facilitating class preparation. The included online version links to historical materials and legal sources on Westlaw (R) and the Internet.