"Interpreting State Constitutions is an important and original effort to provide an overall theory of how state constitutions should be interpreted. The idea of placing state constitutional interpretation within an understanding of federalism is extremely significant, and James Gardner executes the project with great skill."
— Robert A. Schapiro, Robert A, Schapiro
"Provocative and engaging, Interpreting State Constitutions offers a serious and scholarly account of state constitutions and the role that they play in federal governance. James Gardner's functional approach, which he presents with clarity and conviction, constitutes an important contribution to constitutional discussion."
— Helen Hershkoff, Helen Hershkoff
"Interpreting State Constitutions challenges a number of assumptions about state constitutions, and presents a bold new vision for the function of state courts and state constitutions. James Gardner has reconceptualized state constitutions as neither independent from, nor dependent on, the federal constitution. Rather, he portrays state constitutions as part of an interdependent or interrelated American federal constitutional structure, with each sphere of government functioning to check the other."
— Robert Williams, Robert Williams
"Gardner’s clearly argued analysis places states and state constitutions in a significantly more important role than that considered by most legal and judicial scholars. His analytically sound prescriptions to state judges and state courts provide avenues and responsibilities for their defining civil liberties in the national environment. Gardner’s thought-provoking analysis requires reconsideration of U.S. federalism as applied to relationships between state and national courts."
— Steven Puro, Law and Politics Book Review