POSC 3209: Constitutional Law

The course introduces students to the U.S. Supreme Court and its case law concerning Articles I, II, & III of the Constitution.  Topics include judicial review, constitutional interpretation, and case selection, as well as major rulings on presidential power, the commerce clause, the taxing and spending clause, the Tenth Amendment, and voting rights.  No prior knowledge of the Supreme Court, or prior experience with case law, is required.

Fall 2019

Required Text

O’Brien, David M.  2017.  Constitutional Law and Politics, Volume 1: Struggles for Power and Governmental Accountability.  Tenth Edition.  New York, NY: W.W. Norton.  (CL&P)

Syllabus

            8/30    Introduction

I.      The Judicial Power

A.    The Foundations of Judicial Power

      9/3      Judicial Review – CL&P: pp. 23-38 (essay), 45-54 (Marbury v. Madison)

                  9/6      Challenges to Judicial Review – CL&P: pp. 54-57 (Eakin v. Raub)

B.    Jurisdiction

      9/10    Standing – CL&P: pp. 102-125 (essay), 145-149 (Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife); 135-141 (Flast v. Cohen); 149-154 (Hein v. Freedom from Religion Foundation)

      9/13    Political Questions – CL&P: pp. 125-128 (essay), 157-168 (Baker v. Carr)

C.     Judicial Oversight of Campaigns and Elections

      9/17    Reapportionment Principles – CL&P: pp. 806-818 (essay); 827-833 (Reynolds v. Sims)

            9/20    Racial Gerrymandering – CL&P: pp. 819-820 (Gomillion v. Lightfoot); 843-848 (Shaw v. Reno); Blackboard (Virginia House of Delegates v. Bethune-Hill)

            9/24    Political Gerrymandering – Blackboard (Rucho v. Common Cause)

            9/27    Campaign Finance – CL&P: pp. 860-869 (essay), 881-891 (Buckley v. Valeo), 907-918 (Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission)

            10/1    Exam 1

II.  The Legislative Power

A.    The Foundations of Legislative Power

           

             10/4   Foundations of Congressional Regulatory Power – CL&P: pp. 512-519 (essay), 520-531 (McCulloch v. Maryland)

B.    Enumerated Powers

            10/8    Taxing and Spending Powers – CL&P: pp. 628-632 (essay), 632-636 (Steward Machine Co. v. Davis), 636-639 (South Dakota v. Dole)

            10/11  Commerce Clause I – CL&P: pp. 537-542; 553-559 (essay), 531-536 (Gibbons v. Ogden), 559-566 (NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp.), 570-573 (Wickard v. Filburn), 574-582 (Heart of Atlanta Motel v. US and Katzenbach v. McClung)

            10/15  Commerce Clause II – CL&P: pp. 582-594 (U.S. v. Lopez), 608-620 (U.S. v. Morrison), 620-627 (Gonzales v. Raich)

            10/18  Dormant Commerce Clause – CL&P: pp. 667-673 (essay); 673-678 (Cooley v. Board of Wardens); 678-680 (Southern Pacific Co. v. Arizona); 680-682 (Maine v. Taylor); Blackboard (Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association v. Thomas)

                       

C.     Restrictions on Enumerated Powers

            10/22  Tenth Amendment – CL&P: pp. 685-693 (essay), 711-716 (New York v. United States), 716-726 (Printz v. United States and Mack v. United States)

D.    Public Policy Controversies

      10/25  Voting Rights – CL&P: pp. 786-793 (essay), 795-799 (South Carolina v. Katzenbach), Blackboard (Shelby County v. Holder)

            10/29  Health Care – CL&P: pp. 639-655 (National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius)

            11/1    Exam 2

III.  The Executive Power

A.    Overview

      11/5    Classical Approaches to Presidential Power – CL&P: pp. 227-236 (essay), 230-231 (Federalist 70), 236-239 (U.S. v. Curtiss-Wright Corporation); 257-259 (U.S. v. Pink)

                 

      11/8    Contemporary Approaches to Presidential Power – CL&P: pp. 340-344 (essay), 345-358 (Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company v. Sawyer), 359-368 (New York Times v. U.S.)

B.    Constitutional Problems with the Modern Presidency

      11/12  Can a sitting president be indicted? (and can he pardon himself?)

                  Official (and Unofficial) Misconduct –  Blackboard (Nixon v. Fitzgerald); CL&P: pp. 470-474 (Clinton v. Jones); Blackboard (Ex parte Garland)

      11/15  Can the President fire and hire employees at will?

                  Appointment & Removal Powers – CL&P: pp. 373-384 (Myers v. United States), 384-387 (Humphrey’s Executor v. United States); Blackboard (NLRB v. Canning)

      11/19  Can the president go to war without consulting Congress?

                  The War Power – CL&P: pp. 272-277 (essay) 288-291 (Prize Cases); 328 (“War Powers and Our Living Constitution”); Blackboard (Kucinich v. Obama)

      11/22  Can the president detain individuals who are hostile to the United States?

                  Habeas Corpus – CL&P: pp. 280-287 (essay), 291-297 (Ex parte Milligan), 305-310 (Rasul v. Bush), 310-327 (Boumediene v. Bush)

      11/26  Can the President ban foreign nationals from entering the United States?

                  National Origins Profiling – CL&P: pp. 297-305 (Korematsu v. U.S); Blackboard (Trump v. Hawaii)

            11/29  Thanksgiving Break

      12/3    Moot Court #1: TBA

      12/6    Moot Court #2: TBA

      FINAL EXAM: TBA­

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COURSE POLICIES

Exams.  There will be three exams, each worth 20%. The exams include a combination of short-answer and essay questions and are not cumulative.

Moot Court.  The major research project for the class involves simulating oral arguments for a case that is currently pending before the Supreme Court.  You will write a research paper (8-10 pages) and participate in one of the moot courts as either an attorney or justice.  Moot courts are on 12/3 and 12/6.  Further details will be discussed in class shortly after the midterm exam.

Participation.  Participation is a major component of this course (20%).  Students will not receive a satisfactory participation grade simply by attending class and sitting quietly: regular, thoughtful participation is required.  Effective participation requires reading the cases closely, reflecting on them critically, and being prepared to discuss them in class

Attendance/Tardiness.  Attendance is required at all class meetings unless an absence is excused in advance.  Tardiness will also result in a reduction of your participation grade.  If you have a regular conflict, please discuss the matter with me in advance.

Academic Integrity.  Under no circumstances will cheating or plagiarism be tolerated.  Plagiarism includes (but is not limited to) copying all or part of another student’s work, copying (or closely paraphrasing) all or part of another source without proper attribution (including internet sources), and incorrectly attributing sources. To enforce this policy, students must submit an electronic copy of their papers to Blackboard’s SafeAssign.

Disability Services.  If you are a student with a documented disability and require academic accommodations, please register with the Office of Disability Services for Students (ODS) in order to request academic accommodations for your courses. Please contact the main ODS number at 718-817-0655 to arrange services. Accommodations are not retroactive, so you need to register with ODS prior to receiving your accommodations. Please see me after class or during office hours if you have questions or would like to submit your academic accommodation letter to me if you have previously registered for accommodations.

Preferred Name/Pronoun Policy. The Department of Political Science affirms as part of our mission that we value and accord respect to all of our students. Therefore, as a matter of policy, instructors in our department are asked to call students by their preferred names and preferred pronouns. Please let me know your preferred name and preferred pronouns in person or over email.