American Constitutional Development and Interpretation II: Individual Rights

1 credits · Undergraduate

Historical, political, and doctrinal introduction to the primary themes of constitutional protection of individual rights in the United States: judicial review, state action, incorporation, fundamental rights (e.g., marriage, contraception, abortion, and speech), and equal citizenship (i.e., discrimination on the basis of race, sex, and sexual orientation). Special emphasis on: (1) the shaping and reshaping of constitutional rights through cultural and political conflict; (2) basic methods of constitutional interpretation and (3) relationships among constitutional text, judicial doctrine, and robust practices of constitutional interpretation outside the courts.