L6455 ADVANCED CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION (3 pts)
N. Persily
This course will cover all major Supreme Court cases on freedom of speech, press and association.  The course requires reading approximately 50 to 100 casebook pages per week, active class participation and a final exam. 

L6474 ADVANCED CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: LAW AND POLITICAL PROCESS (3 pts)
L. Guinier
This course will consider the way law informs and regulates representation and participation in the political process. We will examine constitutional constraints on legislative apportionment, districting, the role of political parties and access to the ballot. We will explore the relationship between democratic principles and the electoral participation of racial, language, and political minorities. We will study in depth the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, to understand how the law both shapes and has been shaped by social science research, political theory, historical forces, social movements and practical considerations. We shall also consider issues of alternative election systems, non-electoral based participation, and the role of women in politics. Constitutional Law is strongly recommended but is not a prerequisite for this course. Class formats will include lecture, informal Socratic dialogue, guest speakers, small-group work including role plays and student facilitation.

L6408 ADVANCED CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: RELIGIOUS LIBERTY (3 pts)
P. Hamburger
This class examines religious liberty under the First Amendment. The primary focus will be the First Amendment and the cases decided under it. At the same time, the course will also explore other versions of the freedom--in the American states, in other countries, and especially in the past--both to understand these alternatives and to get a clearer understanding of the distinctive character and place of religion and religious liberty in America.

L6476 ADVANCED CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: SEPARATION OF POWERS AND OTHER PROBLEMS (4 pts)
H. Monaghan
This course will deal with several different but connected areas that receive insufficient attention in the basic constitutional law course: First, Congressional and executive relations, with emphasis on the role of the president in the constitutional order. Matters such as the president's role as a "legislator," chief executive, and the constitutional allocation of powers in foreign affairs. Second, the course will address the reach of the constitution, considering such matters as the the constitution overseas, and habeas corpus challenges to presidentially ordered detentions. Finally, to the extent time permits, consideration will be given to state action doctrine, "privitization," and the rapidly emerging supranational legislative and adjudicatory institutions. Materials to be announced.

L6223 COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (3 pts)
A. S. Sweet
This course provides a survey of major themes in comparative constitutional law. It is open to students who have taken the basic course in Constitutional Law.

In the first part, we examine the evolution of constitutionalism, focusing on the emergence and diffusion of three forms: the codified, entrenched constitution; the charter of rights; and constitutional (judicial) review. We then turn to the question of how contemporary systems of rights protection vary structurally. We contrast the "American model" of judicial review and the "European model" of constitutional review, and assess the role of review in democratizing and authoritarian states. Part III is devoted to topics associated with rights adjudication. In the last part of the course, we examine the alleged "constitutionalization" of treaty regimes, and debate the prospects for consolidation of a truly "global constitutionalism."

L6419 FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS LAW (3 pts)
(see Racial, Economic and Social Justice)

L6425 FEDERAL COURTS (4 pts)
M. Dorf
This alternate course in Federal Courts examines the role of the federal courts in the American constitutional system. Specific topics include: Congressional power to expand and limit the jurisdiction of Article III courts, including the vesting of adjudicative functions in non-Article III tribunals; constitutional and sub-constitutional doctrines limiting the cases and controversies that may be heard in Article III courts; the relationship between federal and state courts and between federal and state law; the federal courts' power to make "federal common law;" doctrines of federal and state governmental immunity; and the law of fedeal habeas corpus.

L6426 FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT LITIGATION (3 pts)
H. Monaghan
Limitations: this course it not open to foreign transfer LLM's or those that have not received a JD in the U.S., nor is it open to non-law students.
This course will focus upon the law applied in civil litigation in the district courts of the United States, with an emphasis on litigation with international dimension. The course will begin with a brief examination of choice-of-law issues in state courts. The course will turn to an examination of the relationship between state and federal law, exploring some aspects of Supreme Court review of state court judgments, the scope of the Rules of Decision and the Rules Enabling Acts, federal common law, "arising under" jurisdiction, removal, forum non conviens, and transfer. The course will address several problems of district court jurisdiction, including preclusion, the anti-injunction act, and abstention. Next, the course will consider the enforcement of commercial arbitration agreements and awards, both foreign and domestic. To the extent that time allows, the course will consider multi-party litigation problems Hart & Wechsler's The Federal Courts in the Federal System (4th ed.), and the current Supplement.

L6330 FEDERAL INDIAN LAW (2 pts)
(see Racial, Economic and Social Justice)

L6546 GLOBAL CONSTITUTIONALISM (3 pts)
(see International, Foreign and Comparative Law)

L6229 IDEAS OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT (4 pts)
V. Blasi
The course has three objectives: (1) To identify and evaluate the basic principles "roughly eight in number" that dominate modern First Amendment doctrine; (2) To study the art of making and criticizing complex arguments; (3) To appreciate the political and intellectual struggles, and the leading characters in those struggles, that gave rise to the modern law of freedom of speech.

This course is not organized along conventional doctrinal lines and does not aspire to cover the full range of contemporary doctrines. Rather, each segment of the course (usually two weeks, sometimes one) is devoted to a close examination of an historically important and rhetorically sophisticated argument that developed a distinctive defense of the freedom of speech. We study John Milton?s Areopagitica, James Madison?s Virginia Report challenging the Alien and Sedition Acts, John Stuart Mill?s On Liberty, the landmark First Amendment opinions of Learned Hand, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Louis Brandeis, and Alexander Meiklejohn?s Free Speech and its Relation to Self-government. The course concludes with a study of various recent efforts to ground the freedom of speech in a notion of individual autonomy or flourishing.

Throughout the course, we test the general ideas developed in the classic essays and judicial opinions by exploring how they might help one to think about contemporary issues. For this purpose we read modern Supreme Court decisions on the advocacy of revolution, the publishing of classified documents, flagburning, libel, obscenity and profanity, campaign finance, hate speech, funding for the arts, public demonstrations, speech on the internet, nude dancing, commercial advertising, labor picketing, and freedom of association.

The luxury of devoting one or two weeks to a single argument provides an opportunity to examine in a systematic fashion how some of the masters of the craft went about trying to persuade the doubters of their day. We compare the different types of arguments employed: from consequences, from commitment, from coherence, from identity, from experience, from necessity, from nature, etc. We study the art of making concessions, choosing illustrations, ordering one?s arguments, and not overreaching. In part, this is a course in rhetoric.

L6511 LAW AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS: EQUITY ISSUES (2 pts)
(see Racial, Economic and Social Justice)

L6510 LAW AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS: ISSUES OF AUTHORITY (2 pts)
(see Administrative Law and Public Policy)

L6270 LEGISLATION (3 pts)
R. Briffault, O. Johnson
Most of the "law" that lawyers work with is statutory. This course examines the legislative process, the relationship between the common law and statutes, and statutory interpretation. The course begins with a case study of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. We will devote substantial attention in the course to the theoretical and practical aspects of statutory interpretation, including overall theories of interpretation, the canons of statutory interpretation, and the use of legislative history.

L6292 STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENT LAW (3 pts)
(see Administrative Law and Public Policy)

W9020 COLLOQUIUM: CONSTITUIONALISM IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE (2 pts)
R. Barkett, L. Henkin
This colloquium will explore the meaning (or meanings) of "constitutionalism," its history and development, and the movement to realize it in different parts of the world. We will study the theory (or theories) of constitutionalism and its relation to other political concepts, such as popular sovereignty, democracy, the "rule of law," and human rights.

The colloquium will analyze elements of constitutionalism, including: the legitimacy of constitution-making and constitutional amendment; limited government; the consent of the governed, majority rule and representative government; separation of powers; federalism and other forms of decentralization; judicial and other institutions for constitutional review; civil and political rights, and different conceptions of equality; limitations on rights in the public interest; suspension of the Constitution and derogation from rights in public emergency.

These subjects will be addressed in theory and in practice. We will consider how and to what extent the elements of constitutionalism are realized in the United States and, selectively, in various countries in different parts of the world, and the factors that render different countries more receptive or more resistant to the development of a culture of constitutionalism or to any of its principal elements.

L8881 SEMINAR: CIVIL LIBERTIES AND NATIONAL SECURITY (2 pts)
C. Schroeder
This seminar will systematically explore the relationship between civil liberties and security threats through historical study, theoretical inquiry and doctrinal analysis.  The course will examine past instances in which security threats have produced liberty-reducing government action, exploring how the action was justified at the time and how it has come to be evaluated subsequently, in order to aid in evaluating post 9/11 steps taken in the name of national security.  Theoretical questions focus on the different methods that might be employed to evaluate restrictions on liberty, the role of arguments based on emergency or necessity in a constitutional government of limited powers and the respective roles of the legislative and executive branches in determining national security policy.  The major product is a research paper, 25-30 pages, examining some aspect of the tension between civil liberties and national security.

L8997 SEMINAR: CIVIL LIBERTIES AND THE WAR ON TERROR (2 pts)
Shapiro
This seminar will address a series of interrelated issues that have arisen from America's response to 9/11, including: torture, detention, surveillance, profiling, and dissent. Each of these issues raises a discrete set of legal and policy questions. However, each also offers the chance to explore how the system of checks and balances can
and should work during periods of national crisis, the relevance of traditional constitutional constraints on executive power in a national security context, and the enforceability of international legal norms in domestic courts.

L9698 SEMINAR: CONSTITUTIONAL IDEAS OF THE FOUNDING PERIOD (2 pts)
P. Hamburger
This seminar examines concepts of freedom and government at the time of the founding. Topics include: theories of liberty, government, and regulation; revolution; types of constitutions; the drafting of constitutions; judicial review;freedom of the press. Most of the readings are primary sources.

L9538 SEMINAR: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN FEDERALISM (2 pts)
Halligan and Metzger
Federalism is a central structural principle of our constitutional order. As Justice Kennedy famously put it in U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton: "The Framers split the atom of sovereignty. It was the genius of their idea that our citizens would have two political capacities, one state and one federal, each protected from incursion by the other." Yet throughout our Nation's history, disputes have raged about how to combine federal and state sovereignty within one political and constitutional system. What is the appropriate boundary between state and federal regulatory power? What purposes should federalism serve? What role should the courts play in enforcing federalism? These disputes have risen to the forefront in recent years, as the Supreme Court has repeatedly struck down both congressional and state legislation on grounds that implicate federalism principles, including the 10th and 11th Amendments, the Commerce Clause, and preemption. At the same time, increasing globalization is forcing a rethinking of federal-state relationships. This seminar will explore these disputes through a study of caselaw and scholarship, looking both at contemporary and historical materials.

L8071 SEMINAR: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN LAW AND POLITICS (2 pts)
N. Persily
This seminar changes every year to cover cases and legal issues that occur during the term and throughout the previous two years. Topics to be covered this semester will include the terrorism cases, the torture memos, gay marriage, the right to die, affirmative action, sentencing guidelines, the death penalty, election law controversies, and other topics that come up during the term. Students are required to complete close to 150 pages of reading each week and participate actively in the seminar. The final paper will be approximately 40 pages in length and will concern a topic dealing with law and politics. Drafts of the final paper must be submitted throughout the semester and the paper will be due at the last class session.

L9350 SEMINAR: FIRST AMENDMENT AND THE INSTITUTIONAL PRESS (2 pts)
R. Sack, J. Weiss
The course has two major goals: to engage students in a critical review of the substantive law governing the gathering and dissemination of information by print, broadcast and Internet; and to achieve a fresh understanding of the appropriateness and adequacy of the constitutional protection that this body of law affords the nation's public media.

L8191 SEMINAR: JUDICIAL ENFORCEMENT: SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS (2 pts)
(see International, Foreign, and Comparative Law)

L8173 SEMINAR: LAW, MEDIA AND PUBLIC POLICY (2 pts)
(see Administrative Law and Public Policy)

L8010 SEMINAR: LAWYERING, SOCIAL CHANGE, AND THE RIGHTS OF GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDERED PEOPLE (2 pts)
(see Gender Studies)

L8169 SEMINAR: PUBLISHING LAW FROM PRINT TO DIGITAL (2 pts)
(see Intellectual Property)

L9220 SEMINAR: RACE AND POVERTY LAW (2 pts)
(see Racial, Economic and Social Justice)

L9449 SEMINAR: RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN SUPREME COURT LITIGATION (2 pts)
N. Lewin
This seminar is an intensive review of actual litigation materials in cases involving religious minorities before the Supreme Court. The class will critique petitions for certiorari, briefs in opposition, and briefs on the merits, as well as transcripts of oral arguments in leading religious-liberty cases decided by the Supreme Court. One case on the Supreme Court's current docket is also selected for close examination. Arrangements are made for a class visit to hear oral argument and to discuss presentation of the case with advocates or others involved in the litigation.

L8991 SEMINAR: SEPARATION OF POWERS: LAW OF NATIONAL SECURITY (2 pts)
A. Ciongoli
This seminar is designed to analyze the separation of powers in the federal system, using the allocation of national security powers in general, and the challenging legal questions presented by the executive branch?s response to the post-9/11 attacks in particular, as models for discussion. Students will be encouraged to approach these problems as if they were attorneys in the Justice Department?s Office of Legal Counsel, examining the separation of powers questions and other substantive legal issues presented by each class?s readings. There are no prerequisites to the class, although some prior familiarity with federal separation of powers and criminal procedure will be helpful.

The class is broken down broadly into three readings-based sections: separation of national security powers, the issues presented by treating terrorism as acts of war or criminal enterprise, and the civil liberties implications of national security policy. In all three sections, special focus will be placed on the implications of allocating decision-making authority to each of the three branches of government. No casebook will be used. The students will read most cases and original sources in full, though certain cases will be excerpted.

Most of the topics covered in the course are both current and controversial, providing a natural environment for detailed discussions. The class is being offered as a seminar with that in mind. From time-to-time, former and current federal officials and other public figures relevant to the subjects being discussed may attend and participate in class discussions.

L9138 SEMINAR: STATE CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (2 pts)
F. Grad
The seminar will address the significant "other side" of the federal system. A major part of governmental power and of the governance and administration of the United States is carried on at the state level, subject to 50 state constitutions. Thus, state constitutions and their impact on state and local government, as well as on the manner in which many federal mandates are executed, are of great significance not only in the distribution of government powers, but also in the work of lawyers in every part of the country. The states have long exercised a major law-making function in such areas as family law, decedent estate law, educational law, real property law, and in the law of professional and occupational licensure, to mention just a few. With the current devolution of certain areas of government control from the federal government to the states, particularly in the 104th Congress, the role of state law adopted pursuant to state constitutions is ever growing. The seminar addresses the nature and functions of state constitutions and their role in the federal system. It will also address state constitutional protection of individual liberties and the manner in which state constitutional rights are interpreted. Other subjects addressed will include the form and contents of the constitutions; problems of state constitutional interpretation; and the impact of state constitutions on law making in state legislatures and rule making in state administrative agencies. Some attention will also be paid to fiscal controls under state constitutions and to the impact of state constitutions on local government. In light of Professor Grad's experience as a consultant to several state constitutional conventions, the subject of amendment and revision of state constitutions will also be addressed. The seminar will rely on Robert F. Williams' State Constitutional Law (2nd edition 1993, Supplement 1996) as a major reference. Members of the seminar are expected to prepare a paper on a subject of state constitutional law to meet the writing requirement.

L9153 SEMINAR: TOPICS IN LAW AND SEXUALITY (3 pts)
(see Gender Studies)

L8882 SEMINAR: USE OF FORCE IN THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM (3 pts)
(see International, Foreign and Comparative Law)

The following are not offered in 2007-2008 but are part of the regular course offerings at Columbia Law School. 

L6478 ADVANCED CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: EQUAL PROTECTION (4 pts)
From its inception, the equal protection clause has engendered intense debate about its scope and the institutional competence of the Court to enforce it.  In this course, we will examine those historical and contemporary debates as they relate to contests concerning race, gender and sexual orientation.  A key objective will be to uncover conflicts between various conceptions of equality and the interpretive means by which these competing definitions of equality are mediated within Supreme Court doctrine.  We will explore as well the traditional concepts of equal protection review such as immutability, discreetness and insularity and question the ability of these concepts to constitute a firm foundation for equal protection doctrine in contemporary society.  In addition to Supreme Court opinions, materials will consist primarily of literature drawm from historrical sources, as well as from critical race theory, feminist legal theory and queer theory.

L6407 ADVANCED CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: 1ST AMENDMENT (4 pts)
This course will deal with the protection of speech and religion under the First Amendment.  Special emphasis will be placed on the impact of the First Amendment on the media and on the litigation aspects of free speech cases. 

L6214 CIVIL RIGHTS (3 pts)
This course focuses on racial discrimination and to some extent on gender and sexual-orientation discrimination. The anti-slavery origins of the Equal Protection clause, the development of the law from Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) to Brown v Board of Education (1954) regarding school segregation, current actual and possible responses to increasing school segregation of African-Americans and Hispanics; affirmative action; the upcoming renewal of the Voting Rights Act; current efforts to obtain reparations for slavery and ensuing discrimination; comparative legal developments abroad, particularly involving Roma in Eastern Europe.

L6410 CONSTITUTION AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS (3 pts)
In this course we address the division of executive and legislative powers in foreign affairs, the different checks and balances applicable, and the relevance of federalism. We cover both the special applications in foreign affairs of general issues (such as executive privilege and legislative veto) and special foreign affairs issues, including: the scope of the treaty power and the role of the Senate; the power of the President to make executive agreements on his own authority and their status as law in the United States; the authority of the President to deploy the armed forces of the United States and Congressional efforts to control such Presidential deployment. We also consider the special role of the courts, as reflected in applying international law and in the development of doctrines like "Act-of-State" and the political question doctrine. Issues of individual rights in foreign affairs include the application of the Bill of Rights when the national security is implicated, applicability of the Constitution abroad, and the rights of aliens. Take-home examination, or, upon consultation with the instructor, a research paper in lieu of an examination.

L6470 SEMINAR: CONSTITUTION AND THE ECONOMY (2 pts)
In the post-Lochner era most Constitutional restraints on economic regulation are viewed as illegitimate by the legal profession. Yet the Constitution originally intended to limit the confiscatory and regulatory powers of temporary majorities, and the restraints it imposed were enforced for much of U.S. history. A need for some basic limitations of the economic powers of majorities can also be inferred from strands of modern political and economic theories, most notably public choice theory. Nor are Constitutional limitations on legislative power over economic life unknown in modern constitutions of other countries.

This course will look into each of these areas - the history of American Constitutional doctrine, political theory, and comparative constitutional law - to examine the meaning and effect of constitutional restraints on economic regulation and reflect on jurisprudential and policy reasons for and against recognizing some limitations on the economic sovereignty of legislatures. In particular, wealth creation oriented justifications will be juxtaposed with those founded on claims of individual rights. Among the specific issues discussed will be constitutional regulation of the state's power over monetary policy, regulatory redistribution, and taxation.

L8105 SEMINAR: FREE SPEECH AND THE INTERNET (2 pts)
This course will explore a series of free speech issues surrounding the information superhighway and the extent to which First Amendment principles may need to be reexamined in light of evolving technology.  The course will consider both doctrinal issues and public policy concerns that are shaping the debate over this new communications phenomenon.

L6182 TERROR AND CONSENT (3 pts)
(see 1L Electives)