S. Advanced Constitutional Law: Reading the Constitution

An advanced constitutional law course focusing intently on the Constitution itself (as distinct from the case law interpreting it, sometimes quite loosely). Thus, we shall journey through the supreme law of our land article by article and amendment by amendment, from start to finish. After this grand textual tour, we shall ponder various tools and techniques of nontextual constitutional interpretation. The basic textbooks for the class will be Amar, America's Constitution: A Biography (2005) and Amar, America's Unwritten Constitution: The Precedents and Principles We live By (2012). At least once each month, in response to the assigned reading and in anticipation of class discussion, every student must post on the Courseweb at least one mini-essay (between 300 and 1500 words) and one brief response (between 50 and 500 words) to a classmate's mini-essay. At the end of the semester, each student will be expected to produce a 6,500-8,000 word paper on some particular constitutional clause (or set of clauses) of the student's choice. With the professor's permission, interested students are also welcome to do more extensive research papers that would satisfy the law school's major paper or minor paper requirements.