When we think of constitutional law, we invariably think of the United States Supreme Court and the federal court system. Yet much of our constitutional law is not made at the federal level. In 51 Imperfect Solutions, Jeffrey S. Sutton argues that American Constitutional Law should account for the role of the state courts and state constitutions, together with the federal courts and the federal constitution, in protecting individual liberties. The book tells four stories that arise in four different areas of constitutional law: equal protection; criminal procedure; privacy; and free speech and free exercise of religion. Traditional accounts of these bedrock debates about the relationship of the individual to the state focus on decisions of the United States Supreme Court. The book corrects this omission by looking at each issue through the lens of many constitutions, not one constitution; of many courts, not one court; and of all American judges, not federal or state judges. Taken together, the stories reveal a remarkably complex, nuanced, ever-changing federalist system, one that ought to make lawyers and litigants pause before reflexively assuming that the United States Supreme Court alone has all of the answers to the most vexing constitutional questions.

"...Sutton's work offers a lot of value." - Richard S Price, Publius: The Journal of Federalism

"Sutton's book - with its focus on the actual litigation of constitutional cases - is a welcome respite from books and articles on constitutional law that dwell in an abstract world far from the actual conduct of cases." - Thomas A. Barnico, Massachusetts Law Review

"Aimed at academics and attorneys but written in a clear, straightforward style accessible to general audiences." - Library Journal

"Sutton gives state judges and lawyers plenty of food for thought that might lead to surprising and welcome rulings in the development of American constitutional law." - Judge William H. Pryor, National Review

"As Sutton's book demonstrates, state judiciaries can set an example for the federal judiciary and ultimately persuade it to endorse rights that they have recognized and that should have prevailed as a matter of federal law for decades. I hope that 51 Imperfect Solutions convinces advocates to bring claims in state courts so that jurisprudence may continue to develop in this way." - John Paul Stevens, New York Review of Books

"Jeffrey Sutton has much to teach us about the role of courts, state and federal, in making constitutional law. Sutton, well-known for his work as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, has drawn on years of experience and research in this book-length rumination on the way state courts (and constitutions) can contribute to constitutionalism more broadly... Indeed, among the many happy turns of phrase in the book, one finds Sutton (many years after the fact) wistfully pursuing motions to reconsider the adverse decisions that most set his teeth on edge." - James E. Pfander, JOTWELL

"In 51 Imperfect Solutions, Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton, a distinguished judge who sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, delivers an outstanding analysis of the role and interplay between the federal Constitution, the constitutions of the individual 50 states, and the law developed thereunder." - Ivan J. Domingues, The Champion