LW385

The current US Supreme Court has increasingly signaled that its analysis of the Constitution and law will be guided by referring to the nation's historical practices and understandings. This approach has become determinative for controversies involving the First Amendment (speech and religion), the Second Amendment, and the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process (reproductive rights) and Equal Protection (Affirmative Action) Clauses, among other areas. The purpose of this seminar is two-fold. The first purpose, more substantive, is to expose students to several important events and themes in the nation's constitutional and legal development, events that are often ignored in constitutional law courses. The second, no less important goal, is for students to appreciate how historical events are continually used to shape current constitutional interpretation. This will involve a more interpretative inquiry into why and how history should be used in constitutional adjudication and legal interpretation. Course evaluation will be based on a book/article review, a final paper, and class participation.