Constitutional Law: Rights and Liberties

This course explores the nature and scope of civil rights and liberties guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. We will examine some of the most intractable issues that have come before the Supreme Court in an effort to consider how to balance individual liberties and rights with other values such as community morality, public order, and equality. To explore these themes, we will address issues like affirmative action, speech regulation, the right to privacy, and the need to accommodate religious minorities. Often Constitutional Law courses are spread over two semesters, one addressing civil rights and civil liberties the other addressing the structure of government as created by the Constitution. This course will focus on the former, but we expect to touch on the latter.