Lehrman American Studies Center

Course Objectives:

• This course aims to provide the student with the opportunity to begin to cultivate a liberal education, that is, an education that will enable the student to think independently and seriously about questions of enduring human significance, questions that are of interest to all human beings at all times. Here, of course, we will concern ourselves with political questions, questions about how we should authoritatively organize our common life. We will approach these questions by studying the United States Supreme Court’s interpretations of the structures and powers of the government of the United States, how those interpretations have changed over time, and the arguments surrounding those changes.
• Generally, the course is organized around the question of the proper relationship among our various governing institutions. More specifically, we will explore the following questions (among others): What is the scope and nature of the judicial power? How should the legislative power be interpreted? What is the scope of the executive power? What is the scope of the war power, and how does it relate to the individual rights of citizens? What are the limits of the Federal Government’s power to regulate commerce? To what extent should the Court intervene to protect the powers of state governments? Finally, to what standards should the Court look in trying to resolve cases that raise these questions?

Required Readings:

• We will study these issues by reading and discussing key Supreme Court cases. The readings for this class are available through Blackboard on the internet. 
• The readings are in a folder named “Course Readings.” They are listed numerically in the order in which we will cover them in class. (The “Course Readings” folder can be brought up by clicking on the “Course Documents” button on the left.) All of the readings are in PDF format, which means you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader for your computer to read them. The first item in the Course Readings folder is a link to a site from which the Adobe Acrobat Reader can be downloaded.
• As readings are assigned by the instructor, students should print them, read them carefully, and bring them to class on the day they will be discussed. You will get more from these difficult works by reading them and taking notes in the margins than you will by merely passively reading them on the computer screen. Also, because we will organize our discussion around the readings, frequent reference will be made to specific passages in them. Therefore, lectures will be much easier to follow, your notes will be more complete, and preparation for exams and papers more effective if you have the readings with you in class.
• Students should also check Blackboard regularly for announcements relating to the course schedule, assignments, and other items of interest.
• Any additional required reading will be announced by the instructor and placed on Blackboard or made otherwise available.

Grading:

Each student’s final grade will be based on the following assignments, worth a total of 400 points: a midterm exam (worth 100 points), a final exam (worth 100 points), and two papers (worth 100 points each). Participation and attendance will also be taken into account.

1. Tests: The midterm will be held on Friday, October 17. The final will be held on Monday, December 15, from 9 to 11. Any changes in the exam dates will be announced in class and students will be responsible for knowing about them.
2. Papers: Paper topics will be assigned by the instructor. The first paper will be assigned on Friday, September 19 and will be due on Friday, September 26. The second paper will be assigned on Friday, November 14 and will be due on Friday, November 21. Further guidelines for the papers will be provided when the paper topics are assigned. Papers that are handed in late (without what is, in the instructor’s judgment, a reasonable excuse) may be docked points. Any changes in the paper dates will be announced in class and students will be responsible for knowing about them.
3. Attendance: Regular attendance in class is required. Students may miss up to three classes without negative consequences. Each absence beyond the third will result in the final point score being lowered by four points.
4. Participation: The instructor reserves the right to raise the final letter grade of any student who has, at the end of the semester, an exemplary record of contributing to the class through consistent and thoughtful class participation. Whether or not to take such action is at the sole discretion of the instructor.

The course grade will be assigned according to the following scale:

A+ 400-388

A 387-372

A- 371-360

B+ 359-348

B 347-332

B- 331-320

C+ 319-308

C 307-292

C- 291-280

D+ 279-268

D 267-252

D- 251-240

F 239 and fewer points

Class Schedule:

We will progress through the following outline during the course of the semester. Readings will be assigned by the instructor in class on a regular basis. Any readings or topics to be omitted from or added to the list will be announced by the instructor in class. Students will be responsible for knowing about the change.

• Introduction: Approaches to Constitutional Interpretation
  • Reading 1: William Brennan: Speech at Georgetown University
  • Reading 2: Antonin Scalia: Originalism, the Lesser Evil

• The Judicial Power
  • Reading 3: Marbury v. Madison (1803)
  • Reading 4: Calder v. Bull (1798)
  • Reading 5: Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln on the Supreme Court
  • Reading 6: Edward Bates: Opinion on the Suspension of Habeas Corpus
  • Reading 7: Cooper v. Aaron (1958)
  • Reading 8: Ex Parte McCardle (1869)
  • Reading 9: Luther v. Borden (1849)
  • Reading 10: Baker v. Carr (1962)
  • Reading 11: Nixon v. United States (1993)

• The Legislative Power
  • Reading 12: McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
  • Reading 13: Schecter Poultry Company v. United States (1935)
  • Reading 14: Mistretta v. United States (1989)
  • Reading 15: I.N.S. v. Chadha (1983)
  • Reading 16: Clinton v. City of New York (1998)

• The Executive Power
  • Reading 17: Myers v. United States (1926)
  • Reading 18: Morrison v. Olson (1988)
  • Reading 19: United States v. Nixon (1974)
  • Reading 20: Clinton v. Jones (1997)
  • Reading 21: In Re Neagle
  • Reading 22: Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company v. Sawyer (1952)

• War and Foreign Affairs
  • Reading 23: Ex Parte Merryman (1861)
  • Reading 24: Abraham Lincoln: Message to Congress in Special Session
  • Reading 25: The Prize Cases (1863)
  • Reading 26: Ex Parte Milligan (1866)
  • Reading 27: Missouri v. Holland (1920)
  • Reading 28: United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corporation (1936)
  • Reading 29: Ex Parte Quirin (1942)
  • Reading 30: Korematsu v. United States (1944)
  • Reading 31: Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004)
  • Reading 32: Rasul v. Bush (2004)
  • Reading 33: Boumediene v. Bush (2008)

• Federalism
  • Reading 34: Cohens v. Virginia (1821)
  • Reading 35: Coyle v. Smith (1911)
  • Reading 36: Printz v. United States (1997)
  • Reading 37: Alden v. Maine (1999)

• The Commerce Power
  • Reading 38: Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
  • Reading 39: United States v. E.C. Knight Company (1895)
  • Reading 40: Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918)
  • Reading 41: N.L.R.B. v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation (1937)
  • Reading 42: Wickard v. Filburn (1942)
  • Reading 43: United States v. Lopez (1995)

Cheating:

• Students who try to present the work of others as their own or who cheat in any other way will be subject to severe penalties, ranging from being assigned a failing grade on the assignment in question, to receiving a failing grade for the semester, to being referred to the administration for dismissal from the college.

Other Policies:

• All students are expected to conduct themselves in class in a civil and mature manner. Anyone who fails to do so will be warned by the instructor and, if subsequent infractions occur, subject to penalties ranging from a lowered grade to referral to the University for formal disciplinary action.