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Michael D. Ramsey Professor of Law, University of San Diego Law School |
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Constitutional Law I Spring 2024 Course Webpage |
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COURSE OVERVIEW
Class Meetings: Monday & Wednesday, 5:30 pm to 7:20 pm
Office Hours: Monday & Wednesday, 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm and 7:30 pm to 8:00 pm
Textbook: The required text is Gregory Maggs & Peter Smith, Constitutional Law: A Contemporary Approach (6th ed., West 2023). Note: earlier editions are not acceptable substitutes.
There will be supplemental readings available for download from this website.
INFORMATION REGARDING THE COURSE
This space will be used for announcements regarding class cancellations, make-ups, optional events of interest, and other updates regarding the course and the course schedule.
This class will have its regular meeting on Monday, 4/22, and will meet again on Tuesday, 4/23 (which is deemed to be a Monday), at its regular time. That will be our last class meeting; there is no class on Wednesday, 4/24.
Writing Assignment #3 (available below) is due on Monday, April 22, at noon.
A recorded lecture (to make up the cancelled classes) will be posted later this week. This lecture should be viewed before completing the writing assignment.
A slightly rearranged (but not expanded) version of Reading List No. 3 is available below. This supersedes the previously posted Reading List for Unit 3.
The class meeting on Wednesday, April 3, is cancelled. There is no class meeting on Monday, April 1 (school holiday). The class meeting on March 25 is cancelled. It will be made up with an asynchronous recording. Reading List No. 3 (First Amendment) is available below. Writing Assignment #2 [available below] is due on Monday, March 18, at 12 noon. A new reading list (Unit 2: Federalism) is available below. I will discuss the Trump disqualification case with Professor Michael Paulsen (a leading constitutional law expert from the University of St. Thomas) at noon on Wednesday, February 14, in the Grace courtroom. Writing Assignment No. 1 (available below) is due at 12:00 pm on Monday, February 12. Here is a link to the D.C. Circuit opinion in U.S. v. Trump (discussed in class). The immunity discussion begins in Part III, p. 18 (before that is a technical jurisdictional issue of no interest to our course). The syllabus, readings for the first unit of the course, and assignment for the first class meeting are available below. This class will be recorded. Recordings will be available to enrolled students via Panopto. I do not vouch for the quality or usefulness of these recordings and they are not a substitute for attending class. Only students in this course are authorized to view or listen to the recordings. The recordings are only for personal use in connection with this course. Do not show them to others, post them on the internet or otherwise distribute or provide access to them or any part of them. The recordings will be automatically deleted from Panopto after the final exam and you should not attempt to retain them or any part of them.
COURSE ASSIGNMENTS
This space will be used to post assignments for each class meeting; these assignments will also be announced in class. The Reading Lists for Unit 1 (Separation of Powers), Unit 2 (Federalism) and Unit 3 (Free Speech) are available below.
Assignment for Tuesday, April 23, 2024 (last class meeting)
Reading List Part IX, focus on O’Brien, Barnes, and Texas v. Johnson
Assignment for Monday, April 22, 2024
No additional reading. We will discuss the writing assignment.
Writing Assignment No. 3 (available below) is due at 12:00 pm on Monday, April 22
Assignment for recorded make-up class
Reading list Part VIII, focus on Kokinda (in the supplemental reading available below) and the related set of hypotheticals (available below)
Assignment for Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Reading List Part VII, focus on Kovacs, Ward, and the hypotheticals [available below].
Assignment for Monday, April 15, 2024
Reading List Part VI, focus on Stevens and (especially) Brown in the supplemental reading
Assignment for Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Reading List Part V, focus on NYT v. Sullivan, Hustler and Alvarez
Assignment for Monday, April 8, 2024
Reading List Part III.B, C & D, focus Snyder, Cohen, and the Part 2 hypotheticals [available below] Reading List Part IV, focus on Miller, Ferber and the Part 3 hypotheticals [available below]
NO CLASS Wednesday, April 3, 2024 (class cancelled)
NO CLASS Monday, April 1, 2024 (school holiday)
Assignment for Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Reading List Part II.D & E, focus on the “hypotheticals” [available below] Reading List Part III.A, focus on Chaplinsky
NO CLASS Monday, March 25, 2024 (class cancelled)
Assignment for Wednesday, March 20, 2024
New Reading List (Unit 3, First Amendment) [available below], Part I and Part II.A, B & C, focus on Brandenburg v. Ohio and the Pentagon Papers case
Assignment for Monday, March 18, 2024
Reading List Part VIII, focus on Baldwin and Piper
Writing Assignment No. 2 (available below) is due on Monday, March 18, at 12 noon.
Assignment for Wednesday, March 13, 2024
Reading List Part VII, focus on Hughes v. Oklahoma, Philadelphia v. New Jersey, Kassel v. Consolidated Freightways and the cases in the supplemental reading (Taylor and Hunt)
Assignment for Monday, March 11, 2024
Reading List Part VI, focus on Crosby and Gade in the supplemental reading [available below] and Silkwood in the text.
NO CLASS Monday, March 4, 2024 or Wednesday, March 6, 2024 (Spring Break)
Assignment for Wednesday, February 28, 2024
Reading List Part V, focus on Gregory and Bond in the supplemental reading [available below] and New York v. U.S. and Printz v. U.S. in the text.
Assignment for Monday, February 26, 2024
Reading List Part IV.A (taxing power), focus on NFIB v. Sebelius [part 2] Reading List Part IV.B (spending power), focus on South Dakota v. Dole and NFIB v. Sebelius [part 3]
Assignment for Wednesday, February 21, 2024
Reading List Part III, focus on Lopez, Morrison, Raich, and NFIB v. Sebelius [Part 1].
Assignment for Monday, February 19, 2024
New Reading List [available below], Part II.B, C & D, focus on Jones & Laughlin, Wickard, Heart of Atlanta and McClung
Assignment for Wednesday, February 14, 2024
U.S. Const. Article I, especially Article I, Sections 1 and 8
McCulloch v. Maryland, plus introduction and related questions, text pp. 131-144 Gibbons v. Ogden and related questions, text pp. 150-155 (This is Part I and Part II.A of the new reading list) Assignment for Monday, February 12, 2024
Reading List Part V.D, E. & F, focus on Nixon v. United States and on Zivotofsky v. Clinton in the supplemental reading.
Writing Assignment No. 1 (available below) is due at 12:00 pm on Monday, February 12.
Assignment for Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Reading List Part V.A, B & C (standing), focus on Lujan and the Massachusetts v. EPA case in the supplemental reading (available below)
Assignment for Monday, February 5, 2024
Reading List Part IV, focus on Marbury v. Madison
Assignment for Wednesday, January 31, 2024
Reading List Part III.F & G, focus on Morrison v. Olson and Seila Law v. CFPB. We will also consider Myers and Humphreys from the previous assignment.
Assignment for Monday, January 29, 2024
Reading List Part III.C, D & E, focus on Lucia, Bowsher, Myers and Humphreys Executor Re-read Article II, Section 2 relating to appointments
Assignment for Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Reading List Part III.A & B, focus on Whitman and Chadha, plus Justice Gorsuch’s dissent in Gundy (in the supplement available below)
Assignment for Monday, January 22, 2024
Reading List Part II.G (Trump v. Hawaii) Reading List Part II.H & I, focus on U.S. v. Nixon, Nixon v. Fitzgerald, and Clinton v. Jones Reading List Part II.J (summary and review)
Supplemental Reading #3 (Reading List Part II.G, excerpting the Trump v. Hawaii case) is available below.
Assignment for Wednesday, January 17, 2024
Reading List Part II.D, E & F, focus on Dames & Moore, Zivotofsky and Hamdi. Consider how these cases should be analyzed under the frameworks developed by the different Justices in Youngstown.
Supplemental Reading #2 (Reading List Part II.D, excerpting the Zivotofsky case) is available below.
No Class Monday, January 15, 2024 (King holiday)
Assignment for Wednesday, January 10, 2024
Reading List Part II.A, B & C, focus on Youngstown Sheet & Tube v. Sawyer (the Steel Seizure Case), opinions of Black, Frankfurter, Jackson and Vinson.
Supplemental Reading #1 (Reading List Part II.B) is available below.
Assignment for Monday, January 8, 2024
Available below
COURSE DOWNLOADS
Assignment for first class meeting (Jan. 8, 2024) Reading List -- Unit 1 (separation of powers)
Supplemental Reading #1: Historical Introduction to Executive Power (for 1/10) Supplemental Reading #2: Zivotofsky v. Kerry (excerpts) (for 1/17) Supplemental Reading #3: Trump v. Hawaii (excerpts) (for 1/22) Supplemental Reading #4: Gundy v. United States (Gorsuch dissent) (excerpts) (for 1/24) Supplemental Reading #5: Massachusetts v. EPA and Clapper v. Amnesty International (for 2/7) Supplemental Reading #6: Zivotofsky v. Clinton (for 2/12)
Writing Assignment #1 (separation of powers) (due 2/12 at 12:00 pm)
Reading List -- Unit 2 (Federalism)
Supplemental Reading #7: Gregory v. Ashcroft and Bond v. United States (for 2/28) Supplemental Reading #8: Crosby and Gade excerpts (for 3/11) Supplemental Reading #9: Dormant Commerce Clause excerpts (for 3/13)
Writing Assignment #2 (federalism) (due 3/18 at 12 pm)
Reading List -- Unit 3 (Free Speech) (revised 3/27)
Free Speech Hypotheticals, part 1 (for 3/27) Free Speech Hypotheticals, part 2 (for 4/8) Free Speech Hypotheticals, part 3 (for 4/8) Supplemental Reading #10: Brown v. Entertainment Merchants (for 4/15) Free Speech Hypotheticals, part 4 (for 4/17) Supplemental Reading #11: U.S. v. Kokinda (for make-up lecture) Free Speech Hypotheticals, part 5 (for make-up lecture)
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