American Constitutional Law – Bachelor

The Constitution of the United States of America is the world’s oldest written constitution and has been amended only 27 times in 250 years. Yet American constitutional doctrine is not static. It is dynamic and highly contested. Supreme Court justices may repudiate seemingly fundamental legal holdings issued by their predecessors. Members of Congress wield judicial appointment and control over appellate jurisdiction to try to shape constitutional law. And, of course, presidents who chafe at constitutional limits on their power challenge long-standing constitutional norms. All of this explains why in areas as diverse as economic regulation, abortion rights, and religious freedom, attention to the way law is made is almost as important as the content of the law itself.

This course explores the current state of American constitutional doctrine in several key areas including separation of powers, federalism, and individual rights doctrines in areas such as freedom of speech, non-discrimination, and religious liberty. Along the way, students will also have the opportunity to explore how current constitutional doctrines were made and what those process considerations may portend for American constitutional law’s future.

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Explain the development of American constitutional doctrine in a selected set of structural and rights topics
• Explain the current doctrine in these key areas including areas where that doctrine is currently contested
• Apply the current doctrine to hypothetical facts in a manner similar to American law school and bar exam settings

Knowledge

After this course, students should be able to explain the current content of American constitutional law in a selected set of structural and rights topics. Students will also gain perspectives on how American constitutional law is made, contested, and remade. Students will gain insight into competing interpretive approaches including originalism and non-originalism and into the interventions of non-judicial political actors seeking to shape the law.

Skills

With a grounding in structural and rights doctrine, students should be able to conduct a basic evaluation of constitutional issues arising in the American system similar to questions posed on American law exams and in American law practice. Students will learn to write objective analyses of constitutional issues in the forms familiar to American lawyers.

General competence

Students will have the opportunity to practice and enhance their abilities to present, discuss and write analyses of constitutional issues in English and within the framework of rigorous academic standards and the demands of legal practice.