By Rosalie Berger Levinson & Ivan E. Bodensteiner

In the latest edition of this book, authors Rosalie Berger Levinson and Ivan E. Bodensteiner provide a more comprehensive overview of Post-Civil War statutes, including Sections 1981, 1982, and 1983. Several key modern civil rights statutes are also explored in this edition, including Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the ADEA, the ADAA, as well as Title IX.

The goal of this book remains the same—to provide law students with an understanding of the major federal civil rights statutes. Early civil rights statutes are explored in depth throughout this book, and are compared to more modern civil rights statutes. Some of the older statutes overlap with the more modern statutes, and may be used together to vindicate civil rights.

Enforcement options are discussed and analyzed throughout the book, including available remedies, such as damages and attorney fees, as well as defenses and limitations on the power of Congress to pass such acts.  Review questions included in this book give students the opportunity to apply the statutes they have learned to new fact patterns. Students gain additional practice on these topics by reviewing and answering questions regarding previously covered materials.

Rosalie Berger Levinson is a Senior Research Professor at Valparaiso University Law School.  Prior to 2016, she was the Phyllis & Richard Duesenberg Professor of Law at the school.  Beginning in 1974, she taught courses in Constitutional Law, Federal Practice, and Civil Rights.  She continues to teach these courses as an adjunct professor.  For two years, 2000–2002, she also served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. 

In 1987, Professor Levinson co-authored with Professor Bodensteiner a five-volume treatise on civil rights entitled State and Local Government:  Civil Rights Liability, which is updated annually by the West Group/Thomson Reuters. She has also published numerous articles on civil rights.  She previously worked as a staff attorney for a public interest organization and has been involved in substantial litigation.  She has been a frequent lecturer for continuing legal education programs, including those sponsored by the Federal Judicial Center for federal judges, the Defense Research Institute, and the Practising Law Institute.  She has, in addition, team-taught courses with Justices Scalia, Ginsburg, and Thomas in conjunction with the law school’s summer program in England.

Ivan E. Bodensteiner started his teaching career in the Clinical Program at Valparaiso University Law School and started a Federal Practice Clinic, a twelve-credit program that included a three-credit course in federal practice.  This program was coordinated with two not-for-profit organizations that provided legal representation in matters of importance to low-income individuals throughout the State of Indiana.  In 1977, Prof. Bodensteiner left teaching for two years and returned to practice with Legal Services Programs, first with the program in Hawaii and then with two programs in Indiana.

Upon his return to the Law School, Prof. Bodensteiner initially taught Civil Procedure and Trial Practice before moving into Evidence, Constitutional Law, Civil Rights, and Torts.  In 1985, he and Prof. Levinson published a multi-volume civil rights treatise, which now consists of five volumes with annual revisions and an annual supplement. Later, in 2009, he and Prof. Levinson published a Civil Rights textbook that is currently used in the Civil Rights course at the Law School.

While serving as Dean of the Law School, 1985–90, Prof. Bodensteiner proposed the pro bonorequirement for graduation, which was adopted by the faculty and, with a few modifications, remains in effect today.  Currently, students are required to engage in forty hours of pro bono service during their second–third years of law school, under the supervision of an attorney.  During a second term as Dean, in 1997–98, Prof. Bodensteiner initiated the honors program, which was approved by the faculty as a means of recruiting students with superior academic credentials.

Currently, Prof. Bodensteiner’s scholarship addresses primarily constitutional and civil rights issues.  He regularly teaches at CLE events and is a member of the American Bar Association, the Indiana Bar Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the American Association for Justice.  He also serves on the boards of several not-for-profit organizations, including Indiana Legal Services, Inc., which serves the entire State of Indiana.

September 2019, Paperback, 838 pages