| Class # | Topics | Readings | Cases | Writings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction: What is Law? What is the Constitution? | Kafka, Franz. "Before the Law." [Handout] | ||
| 2 | Same as above | Morgan, Edmund S. The Birth of the Republic. Pp. 129-156. [Handout] Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States. Pp. 89-101. [Handout] Hall, Kermit, et al., eds. American Legal History. Pp. 80-96. | ||
| 3 | The Constitution and Judicial Review |
The Constitution. Members of the class will take responsibility for different portions. Marshall, Thurgood. "Reflections on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution." Hoff, Joan. Law, Gender, and Injustice: A Legal History of U.S. Women. Pp. 27-31. "The Slaves' Appeal to the Royal Governor of Massachusetts (1774)." [Handout] Adams, Abigail. "Correspondence with John (1776)." [Handout] | ||
| 4 | Same as above | Greenberg, Ellen. The Supreme Court Explained. Pp. 1-12, 61-75, and any other portions of the book that you wish. You will find that you will refer back to this book frequently over the course of the semester. Garraty, John A. "The Case of the Missing Commissions." In Quarrels that Have Shaped the Constitution, by Garraty. Pp. 7-19. Hall, Kermit, et al., eds. American Legal History. Pp. 103-105, 109-113. | Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803). | |
| 5 | Property Rules in the New Nation | Current, Richard N. "The Dartmouth College Case." In Quarrels..., by Garraty. Pp. 21-35. Hammond, Bray. "The Bank Cases." In Quarrels..., by Garraty. Pp. 37-55. Dangerfield, George. "The Steamboat Case." In Quarrels..., by Garraty. Pp. 57-69. Graff, Henry F. "The Charles River Bridge Case." In Quarrels..., by Garraty. Pp. 71-85. Hall, Kermit, et al., eds. American Legal History. Pp. 114-116, 121-132, 139-150. |
Dartmouth College v. Woodward, 17 U.S. (1819). McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. 316 (1819). Gibbons v. Ogden, 22 U.S. 1 (1824). Charles River Bridge Co. v. Warren Bridge Co., 36 U.S. 420 (1837). | |
| 6 | Property and Equality before The Civil War | Kerber, Linda K. Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America. Pp. 137-155. Hoff, Joan. Law, Gender, and Injustice: A Legal History of U.S. Women. Pp. 377-382. Hall, Kermit, et al., eds. American Legal History. Pp. 255-260, 264-268. |
Johnson v. M'Intosh, 21 U.S. 543 (1823). Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 U.S. 1 (1831). Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 (1832). | |
| 7 | Same as above | Genovese, Eugene D. Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made. Pp. 25-49. Fehrenbacher, Don E. "The Dred Scott Case." In Quarrels..., by Garraty. Pp. 87-99. Hall, Kermit, et al., eds. American Legal History. Pp. 72-74, 187-190, 200-216. |
Prigg v. Pennsylvania, 41 U.S. 539 (1842). Dred Scott v. Sanford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857). | |
| 8 | Same as above | Case Brief due | ||
| 9 | Equality: The Strange Career of the 14th Amendment | Hall, Kermit, et al., eds. American Legal History. Pp. 226-228, 230-236, 236-242, 250-255. Westin, Alan F. "The Case of the Prejudiced Doorkeeper." In Quarrels..., by Garraty. Pp. 139-156. Woodward, C. Vann. "The Case of the Louisiana Traveler." In Quarrels..., by Garraty. Pp. 157-174. |
The Slaughterhouse Cases, 83 U.S. 36 (1873). The Civil Rights Cases, 109 U.S. 3 (1883). Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896). | |
| 10 | Same as above | Kingston, Maxine Hong. " 'The Laws,' from China Men (1980)." |
Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U.S. 356 (1886). Bradwell v. Illinois, 83 U.S. 130 (1873). Minor v. Happersett, 88 U.S. 162 (1875). United States v. Schwimmer, 279 U.S. 644 (1929). Ozawa v. United States, 260 U.S. 178 (1922). | |
| 11 | Property: The Fall and Rise of Regulation | McGrath, C. Peter. "The Case of the Unscrupulous Warehouseman." In Quarrels..., by Garraty. Pp. 119-138. Apple, R. W., Jr. "The Case of the Monopolistic Railroadmen." In Quarrels..., by Garraty. Pp. 175-192. Mason, Alpheus Thomas. "The Case of the Overworked Laundress." In Quarrels..., by Garraty. Pp. 193-208. Hall, Kermit, et al., eds. American Legal History. Pp. 353-357, 362-374, 378-381, 383-386, 388-394, 460-464. |
Munn v. Illinois, 94 U.S. 113 (1877). In re Debs, 294 U.S. 564 (1895). Northern Securities Co. et al. v. U.S., 193 U.S. 197 (1904). Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45 (1905). Muller v. Oregon, 208 U.S. 412 (1908). | |
| 12 | Same as above | Leuchtenburg, William E. "The Constitutional Revolution of 1937." Freidel, Frank. "The Sick Chicken Case." In Quarrels..., by Garraty. Pp. 233-252. Leuchtenburg, William E. "The Case of the Wenatchee Chambermaid." In Quarrels..., by Garraty. Pp. 266-284. Hall, Kermit, et al., eds. American Legal History. Pp. 455-457, 470-478, 482-490. |
Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, 295 U.S. 495 (1935). West Coast Hotel v. Parrish, 300 U.S. 379 (1937). NLRB v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Co., 301 U.S. 1 (1937). | |
| 13 | Same as above | First position paper due | ||
| 14 | Liberty: Modernizing the First Amendment | Hall, Kermit, et al., eds. American Legal History. Pp. 400-402, 407-419. Parker, Alison M. Purifying America: Women, Cultural Reform, and Pro-Censorship Activism, 1873-1933. Pp. 134-157. Polenberg, Richard. "Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., and Clear and Present Danger." |
Schenck v. U.S., 249 U.S. 47 (1919). Abrams et al. v. U.S., 250 U.S. 616 (1919). United States v. One Book Entitled "Ulysses," 8 F.Supp. 182 (1933). | |
| 15 | Same as above | Strum, Philippa. When the Nazis Came to Skokie: Freedom for Speech We Hate. Pp. 1-35. Delgado, Richard, and Jean Stefancic. "'The Speech We Hate': The Romantic Appeal of First Amendment Absolutism: Does Defending Nazis Really Strengthen the System of Free Speech?" |
Chaplinsky v. State of New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568 (1942). Terminiello v. City of Chicago, 337 U.S. 1 (1949). National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie, 434 U.S. 1327 (1977). Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989). | |
| 16 | Liberty: Freedom of (and from) Religion | Hall, Kermit, et al., eds. American Legal History. Pp. 74-75, 421-427, 535-538. Dilliard, Irving. "The Flag-Salute Cases." In Quarrels..., by Garraty. Pp. 285-306. |
Minersville School District v. Gobitis, 310 U.S. 586 (1940). West Virginia State Board of Ed. v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943). Engel et al. v. Vitale et al., 370 U.S. 421 (1962). | |
| 17 | Same as above | Readings on vouchers to be announced based on developments in the US Supreme Court. |
Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 US 208 (1972). Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet, 512 U.S. 687 (1994). Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, 536 U.S. ___ (2002). | |
| 18 | Equality: The Warren Court and Substantive Due Process | Irons, Peter. "Gordon Hirabayashi v. United States." Rehnquist, William H. All the Laws but One: Civil Liberties in Wartime. Pp. 184-211. Hall, Kermit, et al., eds. American Legal History. Pp. 427-437, 490-493. |
Hirabayashi v. United States, 320 U.S. 81 (1943). Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944). Ex parte Endo, 323 U.S. 273 (1944). Palko v. Connecticut, 302 U.S. 219 (1937). United States v. Carolene Products Co., 304 U.S. 144 (1938). | |
| 19 | Same as above | Horwitz, Morton J. The Warren Court and the Pursuit of Justice. Pp. 1-51. Kelly, Alfred H. "The School Desegregation Case." In Quarrels..., by Garraty. Pp. 307-333. Hall, Kermit, et al., eds. American Legal History. Pp. 445-454, 510-518. |
Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948). Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629 (1950). Brown v. Board of Ed. of Topeka, Kansas, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). | |
| 20 | Liberty: The Warren Court and Implied Liberties | Horwitz, Morton J. The Warren Court and the Pursuit of Justice. Pp. 52-98. Lewis, Anthony. "The Case of the Florida Drifter." In Quarrels..., by Garraty. Pp. 335-350. Hall, Kermit, et al., eds. American Legal History. Pp. 541-545. |
Gideon v. Wainright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963). Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966). | |
| 21 | Same as above | Horwitz, Morton J. The Warren Court and the Pursuit of Justice. Pp. 98-115. Rosenberg, Rosalind. "The Abortion Case." In Quarrels..., by Garraty. Pp. 351-375. Hall, Kermit, et al., eds. American Legal History. Pp. 518-526, 563-569. Filene, Peter G. In the Arms of Others: A Cultural History of the Right-to-Die in America. Pp. 11-46. |
Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965). Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973). Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992). Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health, 497 U.S. 621 (1990). | |
| 22 | Equality: The Rise and Fall of Affirmative Action | Hall, Kermit, et al., eds. American Legal History. Pp. 526-530, 560-563. Johnson, Lyndon. "Howard University Address." Readings on affirmative action to be announced based on developments in the US Supreme Court this spring. |
University of California Regents v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978). Fullilove v. Klutznick, 448 U.S. 448 (1980). Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara County, 480 U.S. 616 (1987). Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peña, 515 U.S. 200 (1995). Hopwood v. Texas, 84 F.3d 720 (5th Cir. 1996), cert. denied, 116 S. Ct. 2581 (1996). Gratz v. Bollinger, 122 F.Supp.2d 811 (2000). | |
| 23 | Same as above | Second position paper due | ||
| 24 | Equality: Other Suspect Classifications | Mackinnon, Catharine A. "Sexual Harassment of Working Women: A Case of Sex Discrimination." Schultz, Vicki. "Sex Is the Least of It: Let's Focus Harassment Law on Work, Not Sex." Readings on Title IX to be announced based on developments this spring. |
Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57 (1986). U.S. v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996). | |
| 25 | Same as above | Leonard, Arthur S. "From Bowers v. Hardwick to Romer v. Evans: Lesbian and Gay Rights in the U.S. Supreme Court." Hall, Kermit, et al., eds. American Legal History. Pp. 570-574. |
Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967). Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986). Baehr et al. v. Lewin, 852 P.2d 44 (1993). Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996). Baker v. State of Vermont, 744 A.2d 865 (Vt. 1999). | |
| 26 | Liberty: Conservative Constitutionalism | Hall, Kermit, et al., eds. American Legal History. Pp. 554-560. Benedict, Michael Les. "The Supreme Court and Conservative Constitutionalism. Meese, Edwin. "A Jurisprudence of Original Intention (1985)." |
Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, 505 U.S. 1003 (1992). United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (1995). City of Boerne v. Flores, 117 S. Ct. 2157 (1997). | |
| 27 | Same as above | Hall, Kermit, et al., eds. American Legal History. Pp. 228-230 (for background), 545-550. Dionne, E. J., Jr., and William Kristol, eds. Bush v. Gore: The Court Cases and the Commentary. 2001, pp. tba. |
U.S. v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683 (1974). Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681 (1997). Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. ____ (2000). | |
| 28 | Same as above | Third position paper due | ||
| 29 | Conclusions: The Constitution after September 11th | Nevins, Allan. "The Case of the Copperhead Conspirator." In Quarrels..., by Garraty. Pp. 101-118. Rehnquist, William H. All the Laws but One: Civil Liberties in Wartime. Pp. 218-225. Readings on civil liberties after September 11th to be announced. | ||
| 30 | Same as above | Kafka, Franz. "In the Penal Colony." | ||
| 31 | Final Examination, two hours duration |