DepSem:Contemp Controv ConLaw

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This seminar, conducted in memory of Georgetown Professor Walter Giles, examines the process of constitutional advocacy and judicial decision making in constitutional disputes, by examining six contemporary controversies in American law. Students will study the state of constitutional law in areas such as privacy, equal protection, freedom of speech, and the reach of Presidential powers. Students will explore these topics through a mix of reading briefs filed in important court cases, studying leading judicial opinions, and hearing from leading lawyers involved in these issues. Students will be assigned course sessions where they will be expected to present their arguments on specific topics and where they will have to writing litigation-style materials related to their arguments; throughout the semester, students will be expected to engage in class discussions regarding the six controversies that the seminar considers. In lieu of a final exam, students will write a paper examining in depth their views on the appropriate judicial resolution of one of the controversies studied in the course.