Course Section | Columbia Law School

Section Description Provided by Instructor

This is the basic course in constitutional law, a foundation for more specialized courses on the Constitution, and for public law courses generally. The course explores the basic architecture of the Constitution; the American tradition of constitutional review by the judicial branch and by other institutional actors; and the constitutional limitations on state and federal power. The course is divided roughly into "structure" and "individual rights." The first half of the course proceeds historically and provides an introduction to the basic instruments of modern-day constitutional analysis: the text and structure of the document, the American constitutional narrative, the canonical precedents, and the forms of constitutional argument. The second half of the course focuses primarily on the theory and doctrine behind individual constitutional rights. Finally, we will consider the limitations upon and prerogatives of the government, particularly the Executive, in times of emergency.