Professor Emenhiser, Department of Government & Politics,
Founders Hall 156, Humboldt State Univesity, Arcata, CA 95521
Telephone: 826-4117. email: jae1@humboldt.edu, Web: http://www.humboldt.edu/~jae1/emenhiser.html
Introduction
American Constitutional Law, concentrates on those opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court that deal with powers of national, state, and tribal governments and with freedoms of the individual.
We search for answers to such questions as what is the Constitution, why should it be interpreted, who should interpret it, and how should it be interpreted. We study the topics of judicial review, the separation of powers, federalism, American Indian tribes and peoples, property rights, due process and privacy, the rights of the accused, freedom of speech, press, and religion, and civil rights.
The course is designed to help develop skills in evaluating complex, controversial issues. You will practice reading, writing, listening, speaking, and thinking. You will learn how actual law cases have been decided, how groups, institutions, processes, and personalities have converged to raise issues and allocate societal values. You will become familiar with the ideas of those who wrote the Constitution and with the reasoning of justices who have interpreted it over the years. You will examine a number of U.S. Supreme Court opinions in detail, employing the case method. You will learn how the law has developed, how judges and lawyers think, and how scholars evaluate constitutional decisions. You will articulate and examine your own political values and transfer your knowledge to an area of the law that is still unsettled.
Despite its focus upon the law, this is not a law class. Constitutional law is also taught in law school. Our approach, in the political science curriculum, is somewhat different. We are more concerned with how the law means than with what it means. We are more interested in the political process and in the political values contained in the law, than in a catalog of legal doctrines or rules of law. We want to expand our knowledge of the political system and test our political values by examining how other persons have thought about the Constitution and where their thinking has led our polity.
Most of the work involves reading, writing, thinking, and speaking. You will learn how to read court opinions and how to brief cases and discuss them. You will write an essay examination on a provocative book about the role of the U.S. Supreme Court in interpreting the Constitution. Finally, you will play the role of a law clerk and write a memorandum to your justice regarding a prominent case.
Much of our class time, especially on Thursdays, will employ the case method, which according to the Princeton Review is the principal approach in most law schools:
"Indeed, you will learn that in many areas of law there is no such thing as a static set of rules, but only a constantly evolving system of principles. You are expected to understand the law -- in all of its ambiguity -- through a critical examination of a series of cases that were decided according to such principles. You will often feel utterly lost, groping for answers to unarticulated questions. This is not merely normal, it is intended."
This is a four-unit, upper-division course that requires extensive reading and writing. In addition to the three hours per week that the class meets as a whole, you are expected to meet with the professor and with others students as a team to prepare your team project.
Whenever you want to consult with me outside class, please see me in FH 156, Monday and Wednesday 0900-1000 and Tuesday and Thursday 0830-0930, call me at 836-4117 for an appointment, or send me an email at jemenhiser@humboldt.edu.
If you have a documented disability and would like to discuss academic accommodations, please contact me as soon as possible. Our campus Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) can assist you with the accommodation process and can be reached at (707) 826-4678, (707) 826-5392 (TDD). The SCRC is located in House 71 (Little Apartments) off Library Circle.
Stephen G. Breyer, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito
Anthony Kennedy, John Paul Stevens, John G. Roberts, Jr., Antonin Scalia, David H. Souter
Freshair. 2007. "Interview with Jeffrey Toobin," author of Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court.
The Papers of Justice Tom C. Clark (1949-1967)
Constitutions
Statutes
Essays
Law Journals
Review of Last Year's U.S. Supreme Court Decisons
Internet Game
Case Study(40 percent). Since this course uses the case study method rather than lecture, you are expected to attend class regularly and be prepared to discuss the cases assigned each week. You will be asked to respond to questions on the full meaning of each case. How does the case affect American public policy? How is the decision supported by the reasoning of its opinions? How does the rule of law and its reasoning relate to your own political values? In order to prepare for class you should read and take notes on the cases. Your notes may take the form of a case brief.
Essay (30 percent). No later than Friday, October 17, you will submit an evaluative essay on the book by Persily, Citrin, and Egan.
Team Project (20 percent). You will submit a report on your part of the team project no later than Friday, November 21, 2008.
Final Examination (10 percent). On Final Examination day, Thursday, December 18, 0800-950, you will present a three-minute summary of your part of your team project to the class.
The definitive interpretation of the U.S. Constitution through the 1999 session of the Court is on the Internet or in the form of a U.S. Senate document, 103-6, with pocket supplement, 106-27 (in the HSU LIbrary, Third Floor).
Emenhiser Home Page