COURSE
SYLLABUS: POLITICAL SCIENCE 510,
AMERICAN
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
Instructor's Name: Dr. Andrew J. Dowdle
Class Location: JKSA 204
Class Time: W 6-8:50 PM
Office Location: TS 207B Office Phone: 486-1347
Office Hours: 9:30-11: 30 TR, 12:30-1:30 M-R, 3-4 MW, 5:30-6 MW
OR BY APPOINTMENT
Alternate phone: Ms. Smith, 486-1573
E-Mail: adowdle@uncfsu.edu
This course will provide students with the ability to examine and analyze the role of the U.S. Supreme Court in the development of the American constitutional system. Particular attention will be paid to the relative legal status of the branches of the federal government to deal with major domestic and foreign issues as well as the legal relationship between the national government and the states, and the development of legal guidelines and principles as precedents for future courts.
Hensley, Thomas R. et al. The Changing Supreme Court: Constitutional Rights and Liberties. Minneapolis, MN: West Publishing, 1997.
Since graduate education is by definition active learning, this course is taught primarily through student-led presentations.
Fayetteville State University expects all students to conduct themselves in a responsible manner as adults who understand that they are accountable for the choices they make as students. Students are expected to attend all class meetings scheduled for the courses in which they are registered. Instructors are expected to maintain an accurate written record of student attendance in order to meet veterans’ benefits and other requirements. At the end of each quarter, instructors will record absences for all students all students on the official grade sheets. Absence from class for whatever reason does not does not excuse students from full responsibility for class work or assignment missed. Students will be allowed to make up work only if the instructor excuses the absence. Illness needs to be documented by a note from the infirmary or family doctor. Funerals require a copy of the obituary or funeral program. School activities need to be pre-approved by the class instructor.
GRADING
The final grade for this course consists of two tests, one paper, a presentation of your research, and a student-led discussion. The mid-term examination is tentatively scheduled for September 27, and the final exam will be administered at the time scheduled by the registrar. The research paper will cover a topic arrived at by the instructor and the student and decided upon no later than September 30. The paper will be ten-fifteen pages in length, typed, and double-spaced. The written assignments are due no later than 5 p.m. December 1.
COMPOSITION OF FINAL GRADE
Grades will be based on the following assignments:
Midterm Examination 35%
Final Examination 35%
Paper 20%
Student presentation 10%
Grading Scale
92-100 A
83-91 B
73-82 C
64-72 D
Below 63 F
VI. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW BIBLIOGRAPHY: ARRANGED
BY TOPIC
Abraham, H., Freedom & the Court (6th ed.
1993 ).
Biskupic, J. & Witt, E., The Supreme
Court and Individual Rights, 3d ed. (1997).
Currie, D. The Constitution in the Supreme
Court (2 vol., 1985, 1990).
Currie, D. The Constitution in Congress (vol
1. 1997)
Gunther, G. Constitutional Law; Individual
Rights in Constitutional Law.
Kelly, A., Harbison, W., & Belz, H., The
American Constitution (7th ed. (1991).
Mason, A. T. & Stephenson, D. (Beaney,
W.) American Constitutional Law. (1997).
Murphy, W., Fleming, J., Barber, S. American
Constitutional Interpretation (2d ed. 1995).
O'Brien, D. Constitutional Law & Politics
(1995) with yearly supplements.
Pritchett, C., Constitutional Law of the
Federal System; Constitution & Civil Liberties (1983).
B. Collections Of Case Studies About The
Court And Its Justices.
Cannon, M. & O'Brien, D., ed. Views from
the Bench (1985).
Garraty, J., ed., Quarrels that Have Shaped
the Constitution 2d ed. (1987).
Irons, P., Courage of their Convictions
(1988)
Steamer, R., Chief Justice (1986).
White, G., The American. Judicial Tradition
(2d ed., 1988).
C. General Histories Of The Court And
American Constitutionalism.
Farber, D. & Sherry, S. A History of the
American Constitution (1990).
McCloskey, R. The American Supreme Court (2d
ed. 1994).
Mason, A. ed. Free Govt. in the Making (1985
ed)
Schwartz, B. A History of the Supreme Court
(1993).
Semonche, J. Keeping The Faith: A Cultural
History of The Supreme Court (1998)
Urofsky, M. March of Liberty (1988).
Wiecek, W., Liberty under Law (1988).
D. The Bill of Rights: Historical Function
and Historical Studies.
Cogan, N .The Complete Bill of Rights: the
Drafts, Debates, Sources & Origins (1997).
Conley, P. & Kaminski, J., The Bill of
Rights and the States (1992).
Corwin, E. "The Doctrine of Due Process
of Law Before the Civil War," 24 Harvard Legal Review 366 &460 (1941).
Lacey, M. & Haakonssen K. eds.A Culture
of Rights (1992).
Levy. L. Jefferson & Civil Liberties
(1963).
Plescia, J. The Bill of Rights and Roman Law
(1995).
Rutland, R. The Birth of the Bill of Rights
(1955).
Wilmarth, A. "Original Purpose of the
Bill of Rights," 26 American Criminal Law Review 1261 (1989).
E. The Fourteenth Amendment Incorporation
Problem.
Amar, A., "The Bill of Rights and the
Fourteenth Amendment," 101 Yale. Legal Journal 1193(1992).
Antieau, C. Intended Significance of the 14
Amendment (1997).
Aynes, R. "Charles Fairman, Felix
Frankfurter & the 14th Amendment," 70 Chicago-Kent Law Review 1197
(1995).
Belz, H. Emancipation and Equal Rights
(1978).
Bond, J. No Easy Walk to Freedom (1997).
Curtis, M., No State Shall Abridge (1986).
Kaczorowski, R. "Revolutionary
Constitutionalism in the Era of the Civil War &
Reconstruction," 61 New York University
Legal Review 863 (1986).
Kettner, J. The Development of American
Citizenship, 1609-1870
Kutler, S., Judicial Power and Reconstruction
Politics (1968).
Maltz, E. "Fourteenth Amendment Concepts
in the Antebellum Era," 32 American Journal of Legal History 305 (1988).
Maltz, E. Civil Rights, the Constitution, and
Congress (1990).
VII. CLASS SCHEDULE AND
ASSIGNMENTS (tentative)
Week One – Introduction
Week Two - The Judicial Process
Chapters One and Two
Week Three- The Incorporation Doctrine
Chapter Four
Week Four - Religion
Chapters Five and Six
Week Five - Expression
pp. 242-324
Week Six - Expression (continued)
pp. 325-413
Week Seven - Midterm Examination
September 27
Week Eight - The Fourth and Fifth Amendments
Chapters Nine and Ten
Week Nine - The Sixth and Eight Amendments
Chapters Eleven and Twelve
Week Ten - Equal Protection and Race
Chapters Thirteen and Fifteen
Week Eleven - Equal Protection in Other Areas
Chapters Fourteen and Sixteen
Week Twelve - Abortion
Chapters Seventeen and Two
Week Thirteen - No class
Week Fourteen - No class
Week Fifteen - No class
Thanksgiving Week
Week Sixteen -
Review for Final November 29
Final Examination – Monday December 11 @ 6 p.m.