Supreme Court and Bill of Rights

History 4337

Spring 2004

J. Samaha/B. Thompson

 

 

Office

Hours

Phone

e-mail

J. Samaha

635SST

T11-12

612.624.3529

952.933.5645

jbs@umn.edu

B. Thompson

 

By appointment

651.488.4502

thom1191@umn.edu

 

Course Requirements

Texts

  1. Robert G. McCloskey, The American Supreme Court, 3rd edition. (Earlier editions won’t work.)
  2. Second Amendment Syposium (Chicago-Kent Law School, 2001)

Quizzes (40%). At the beginning of each class there’s a 20 point quiz based on the readings assigned for the week (except for cases). These include:

1.     McCloskey. All questions from McCloskey will be selected from the McCloskey Study Guide that I prepared to guide your reading.

2.     “The Embarrassing Second Amendment.”

3.     “The Lunch Box”

4.     “Race, Law, and Suspicion.”

The quizzes are open notes and closed book. In other words, you can use your notes to answer the questions. You can’t use the readings themselves. Verbatim copies of pages of the readings are not notes; brief passages are.

Beginning of class question and comment (20%). Before class starts, submit a written question about the assigned case (and/or other reading) you want to discuss and a comment (one paragraph only) on the assigned cases and other readings (excluding McCloskey). Comments like “it was interesting,” “boring,” “stupid,” or “enlightening” aren’t good enough without specific detail backing them up. The marks on these are either a P (you turned in a paper with your name on it; in other words you showed up) or a + (you answered with enough specifics to prove you read the case).

Discussion and end of discussion comment (20%). At the end of each week’s discussion, submit a written “quote of the night” from discussion and comment (one paragraph) on why you picked it. Comments like “it was interesting,” “boring,” “stupid,” “enlightening” and the like aren’t good enough unless there’s specific detail backing them up. The marks on these are either a P (you turned in a paper with your name on it; in other words you stayed until discussion was over) or a + (you answered with enough specifics to prove you listened to discussion). You don’t get a mark for showing up at the end of discussion and turning in a sheet with your name on it.

Second Amendment project (20%). Details to follow.

 

Grades

1.     The percents attached to the parts of the course grade are rough. I believe in rewarding your strengths, not punishing your weaknesses. So, if you do well on one part of the course and not so well on another, I’ll give more weight the part you did better on.

2.     The amount of flexibility in the weight given to each part depends on the grade level. Flexibility increases as the decision goes down the grading scale. I expect an A to reflect strength in all areas; C may reflect strength in one or two parts.

3.     At the end of the day what matters most to me is what you learned about a subject I believe is really important. Also, I’m committed to the values of citizenship and public ethics, not just because the course satisfies the CLE Citizenship/Public Ethics” theme requirement, but because they’ve been close to heart of my teaching since 1963.

More on back

Make up work

Quizzes. You have to take the quizzes at the scheduled time, unless you give us written proof of excuses recognized by the University. The main excuses are illness, death and family emergencies, religious holidays, and University sponsored events in which you’re a participant. Job-related absences are not accepted as an excuse. Please submit documented proof of these excuses to Brandon Thompson. The time of make-up exams is at the total discretion of Brandon. No exceptions.

Beginning of class assignment. You can submit this assignment by-email to Brandon, if you have written documentation of a University recognized excuse. Please submit this documentation to Brandon. No exceptions.

End of class assignment. You can’t make up this part of the course. If you have documented proof of a University recognized excuse, submitted to Brandon in writing, you’ll be excused from the mark for this assignment.

 

Class Schedule

January 21. GETTING STARTED

January 28. Right to Bear Arms. McCloskey, Chapter 1; Levinson, “The Embarrassing Second Amendment

February 4. The Business/Government Question. McCloskey, Chapters 5-6; Lochner v. N.Y. (1905)

February 11. The Regulatory State and the Individual. McCloskey, Chapter 7 to p. 129. U.S. v. Carolene Products (1938); Carolene v. McLaughlin (1936)

February 18. Civil Liberties in the Cold War. McCloskey, Chapter 7 129 to end. Dennis v. U.S. (1951)

February 25. The Right to Privacy in the Welfare State. McCloskey, Chapter 8. Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

March 3. Monitoring the Welfare State. McCloskey, Chapter 9 to 204. Wyman v. James (1969). DeShaney v. Winnebago Co. Social Services (1989).

March 10. Monitoring the Welfare State. Maher v. Roe (1977) Rust v. Sullivan (1991). McCloskey, Chapter 9, 204 to end.

March 17. SPRING BREAK

March 24. Monitoring the Welfare State. Amar, “The Lunch Box.” No quiz

March 31. Color Blind Constitution and Affirmative Action. Grutter v. Bollinger (2003). Gratz v. Bollinger (2003). No quiz

April 7. Color blind Constitution and police stops. Kennedy, “Race, Law, and Suspicion.” U.S. v. Weaver (1992). No quiz.

April 14. Civil Liberties and the War on Terror. Samaha, Chapter 15 (we’ll discuss excerpts of Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2003) Padilla v. Rumsfeld (2003) and your general assessment of the chapter. No quiz.

April 21. Second Amendment presentations I

April 28. Second Amendment presentations II

May 5. Finishing Up