Federal Courts

This course examines the role of the federal courts in the American constitutional order. Specific topics include: congressional power to expand and limit the jurisdiction of federal courts; constitutional and subconstitutional doctrines limiting the types of cases that may be heard in federal courts; the relationship between federal and state courts and between federal and state law; the federal courts' powers to make "federal common law"; the enforcement of federal law against state and federal officers; sovereign and official immunities; and habeas corpus.