Constitutional Law I

A study of constitutional problems concerning judicial review, separation of powers, constitutional limitations on federal-state powers and relations, international agreements, economic and reproduction rights.

Constitutional Law II

A study of the constitutional protection accorded to persons and property under the Bill or Rights and Fourteenth Amendment, particularly under the provisions relating to freedoms of expression and of religion, equal protection, and due process of law.

Legislation: Process and Interpretation

This course focuses on the process by which legislatures consider and adopt statutes and the approaches courts take in determining the meanings of statutes. The first part of the course examines various aspects of the legislative process. Topics include competing theories of how legislatures work; rules that govern the structure and composition of legislatures; procedures that govern legislative deliberation; and the force and character of statutory law as contrasted with judge-made law. The second part of the course examines theories of statutory interpretation as well as specific sources and canons of statutory construction. A central theme of the course is how the realities of the legislative process should and do affect the judicial process of statutory interpretation. By the end of the course, students will be able to advance sophisticated arguments about the meaning and purpose of statutes, and they will be able to make incisive critiques of courts’ constructions of statutes.

Political Speech

This seminar will focus on the importance of the idea of "politics" in First Amendment theory and doctrine. The first readings and discussion will introduce and critique the use of “political speech” as a category that distinguishes “high value" from "low value" speech on one prominent, arguably dominant, strain of free speech theory. Subsequent readings will present theoretical and practical challenges to that theoretical approach. The final group of readings - Supreme Court decisions and academic commentary on particular free speech controversies that arise in the political process, such as campaign finance reform, “equal time” requirements, and access of minor political parties to political fora - will allow the students to apply and critique the theoretical arguments about political speech. For the writing assignment, which also entails a presentation to the class, the students will analyze, and advance a position about, either an aspect of political speech theory or a doctrinal problem in which the idea of political speech plays a pivotal role.