Constitutional Law II

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This course covers the origins, protections, and jurisprudence about the individual liberties of citizens enshrined in the Constitution and the limits on governmental power over citizens. Our focus will be on the First, Second, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments (religion clauses, free speech, association, due process, and equal protection). Attention will be paid to the development of theories of individual liberties at the founding and in Constitutional jurisprudence, including more recent debates in the Court and scholarly literature. Special attention will be paid to the role of the Court and lower courts in Constitutional interpretation, including various methods of interpretation. In the first part of the course, we will track the evolution of Court doctrine about individual liberties. In the latter part of the course, we will examine modern doctrine within particular areas like freedom of speech, race discrimination, gun control, freedom of religion and the establishment clause, and freedom of the press.