School of Arts and Sciences

COURSE SYLLABUS

 

 Course Number

POL 335

Course Title

American Constitutional Law I

 Fall Semester

               X

Spring Semester

 

Summer Semester

 

Year

     2011

Name of Instructor

William Miller

Meeting Day, Time, and Room Number

Tuesdays-Fridays, 11:00am to 12:15pm, Rose Bente Lee Ostapenko Hall 1001

Final Exam Day, Time, and Room Number

Tuesday, December 13th, 12:00pm, Gailhac G2001

Office Hours, Location, Phone

Tuesdays and Fridays, 10:00 to 11:00, 1:00 to 2:00pm; Wednesdays, 3:00 to 3:30pm and after class; other times by appointment. Ireton G107, 703-284-1687. Always email ahead of time!

 E-mail & Website

wmiller@marymount.edu (Email is the best way to reach me!) www.millerpolitics.info (All announcements and assignments are posted here, not on Blackboard.)

 

UNIVERSITY STATEMENTS

Academic Integrity

By accepting this syllabus, you pledge to uphold the principles of Academic Integrity expressed by the Marymount University Community. You agree to observe these principles yourself and to defend them against abuse by others.

Special Needs and Accommodations

Please advise the instructor of any special problems or needs at the beginning of the semester.  If you seek accommodation based on disabilities, you should provide a Faculty Contact Sheet obtained through Disability Support Services located in Gerard Hall, (703) 284-1615.

Access to Student Work

Copies of your work in this course including copies of any submitted papers and your portfolios may be kept on file for institutional research, assessment and accreditation purposes. All work used for these purposes will be submitted anonymously. 

Student Copyright Authorization

For the benefit of current and future students, work in this course may be used for educational critique, demonstrations, samples, presentations, and verification.  Outside of these uses, work shall not be sold, copied, broadcast, or distributed for profit without student consent. 

University Policy on Snow Closings

Snow closings are generally announced on area radio stations. For bulletins concerning Marymount snow or weather closings, call (703) 526-6888. Unless otherwise advised by radio announcement or by official bulletins on the number listed above, students are expected to report for class as near normal time as possible on days when weather conditions are adverse. Decisions as to snow closing or delayed opening are not generally made before 5:00 AM of the working day. Students are expected to attend class if the University is not officially closed. 

 

1.    BROAD PURPOSE OF COURSE   (Include the catalog description)

The course is an introduction to the federal judiciary in American government and a survey of the principal decisions of constitutional law that have influenced the development of the American polity. More specifically, the course will:

(1) introduce students to the American court and legal systems and, in particular, to the role of the Supreme Court in the American scheme of government, and

(2) study court opinions that have interpreted the provisions of the United States Constitution that allocate power among the three branches of the federal government and between the federal and state governments.

 

2.    COURSE OBJECTIVES/LEARNING OUTCOMES (Include all that are appropriate): 

 

        Upon successful completion of this course students will be expected to: 

1.       to be able to demonstrate orally and in written tests a basic understanding of the English roots, the structure, and the functions of the American legal systems as they developed over the past two centuries;

2.       to demonstrate orally and in written tests familiarity with the broad outlines of the legal process as it applies to the federal courts today;

3.       to be able to identify, locate, and cite authoritative legal sources;

4.       to be able to reason critically about the issues, the holdings, and the rationales of court decisions and to practice the writing and oral presentation of legal arguments;

5.       to demonstrate orally and in written tests familiarity with the doctrine of separation of powers and the principal constitutional powers of the Congress, the President, and the federal judiciary; and,

6.       to demonstrate orally and in written tests familiarity with the principle of American federalism and with the principal Supreme Court opinions interpreting (1) the powers, and in particular the Commerce Clause power, assigned by the Constitution to the national government and (2) the police power of the states.

3.    TEACHING METHOD   (lecture, laboratory, audio-visual, clinical experience, discussion, seminar, tutorial)

 

Lectures by the instructor and briefing and discussion of court opinions by the students.

 

4.    GRADING POLICY  (i.e., number of graded assignments, weight given to each)

The final grade will be based upon three examinations and class participation, as follows:

20% = Lower mid-term exam grade

30% = Higher mid-term exam grade

35% = Final exam grade

15% = Class assignments, quizzes, briefs, constructive contributions to discussion

The usual scale of 90-100%=A, 80-89%=B, 70-79%=C, 60-69%=D, and 59% and below=F will be used for all graded work.

ATTENDANCE AND MAKE-UP EXAM POLICY

Attendance: Beginning with the second week of classes, students are allowed three unexcused absences. For each additional unexcused absence, the final grade will be lowered by one percentage point. To be excused, an absence must be explained to and approved by me before it occurs. Note: Occasionally coming to class late—even real late once or twice—is not considered an absence. Coming to class without hard copies of the text for the day or leaving class after taking an announced quiz without the prior permission of the instructor, however, is considered an absence.

Merely informing me ahead of time that you will be absent from class does not mean I excuse the absence, though I appreciate your courtesy. I will not excuse your absence because you are simply not feeling well or because you choose to do something worthwhile other than come to class even if you inform me ahead of time. If you are coughing and sneezing and coming down with a cold or the flu, and you don't want to spread your virus to your classmates, your fellow students and I salute you! Staying home may be the right thing to do, but it is not an excused absence. You all get three unexcused absences to use as you see fit, and it is your decision to use them to stay home when you don't feel well or want to attend some other event or need to prepare for another class instead of going to my class. Use them for good reasons: that's what they are for.

Excessive excused absences may also be a problem, and you should discuss such situations with me well before the last month of the semester. This is not a distance learning class. Any absence prevents you from participating in the class, but if your job or an illness keeps you away from class for more than a quarter of the semester, it will significantly affect the class participation component of your grade and may be a good reason to drop the course and take it another time. All of us find ourselves in these situations from time to time and have to deal with them appropriately. You also have an obligation to report this to a University office (see page 34 of the 2011-2012 University Catalogue).

When in doubt about any of these policies, please come and talk to me. They have been formulated with our substantial commuter and working student population in mind and are intended to be fair to everyone. You should also review the University's policies on absenteeism on page 34 of the 2011-2012 University Catalogue.

Make-up Exams: The same basic rules about excused absences apply to taking mid-terms. My policy of giving makeup exams on the same day as the final does NOT mean that you may choose to take the mid-term exam on that day rather than on the regularly scheduled day: it is not an alternative test date. To be eligible for a makeup, you must qualify for an excused absence, and this you should do a reasonable time before the day of the mid-term, if that is at all possible. You may be excused from taking a mid-term if you are certifiably sick or your job prevents you from attending class or you have a serious family or personal emergency on the day of the test. If one of these applies and I am informed in a reasonable time before the exam and you have written documentation to support your request, you may take the exam on the same day as the final exam. If none of these reasons apply, you may not take the exam at another time, and you will get a zero for the exam. If you are late for the exam because of events outside of your control, let me know immediately or as soon as possible that day, and I will let you take the exam later that same day if possible.

5.    CLASS SCHEDULE   (List topics to be covered with approximate dates of presentation)

As stated, this schedule is approximate. The specific cases to be assigned in the course will be announced in class and posted on my website under "Weekly Assignments—Constitutional Law (Fall 2011)." For any cases assigned, you might also read the commentary in the Nowak and Rotunda hornbook. Always use the versions on the "Constitutional Law Case List (Fall 2011)" link; usually, you will not have to read the whole opinion.

WEEK I (8/30-9/2) Introduction to the course and to finding and citing legal sources (Primer, Appendix A). Friday: History of Anglo-American courts (Primer, Ch. 1).

WEEK II (9/6-9) Tuesday: Jurisdiction, judicial power, justiciability (Primer, Ch. 2). Friday: Cases; Primer, Appendix B.

WEEK III (9/13-16) Tuesday: Litigation Process (Primer, Ch. 3). Friday: Cases. Note: Wednesday: Constitution Day Luncheon and Address.

WEEK IV (9/20-23) Tuesday: Cases and analysis of opinions. Friday: State and federal courts (Primer, Ch. 4)

WEEK V (9/27-30) Tuesday: The Supreme Court (Primer, Ch. 5). Friday: Cases.

WEEK VI (10/4-7) Tuesday: Mid-term Exam. Friday: Cases on the Powers of the National Government. Express and Implied Powers: McCulloch v. Maryland, South Carolina v. Katzenbach, City of Boerne v. Flores.

WEEK VII (10/14) Cases on Incidental Powers.

WEEK VIII (10/18-21) Cases on Privilege and Immunity and on Treaty Powers and Executive Agreements.

WEEK IX (10/25-28) Cases on War Powers and on Separation of Powers—Delegation Doctrine, Appointment, and Removal.

WEEK X (11/1-4) Cases on Separation of Powers.

WEEK XI (11/8-11) Tuesday: Mid-term Exam. Friday: Cases on the Commerce Powers of the National Government: Gibbons v. Ogden.

WEEK XII (11/15-18) Cases on the Commerce Powers of the National Government.

WEEK XIII (11/22) Cases on the Powers of the State Governments under the Commerce Clause.

WEEK XIV (11/9-12/2) Cases on the Powers of the State Governments.

WEEK XV (12/6-9) Cases on the Powers of the State Governments.

 

The Final Exam will be given only at the announced date and time prescribed by the University Final Exam Schedule: Tuesday, December 14th, 12:00pm. All mid-term exam make-ups will be given only on the same day before or after the final exam. Please make your travel plans accordingly!

 

6.    REQUIRED TEXTS

Miller, William. Primer on American Courts. New York: Pearson Longman, 2005.

We do not use a constitutional law casebook. In order to do the case assignments in this course, you will have to use the Internet, or the Lawyers' Edition collection in the library, or one of the other two sets of Supreme Court reports, all of which are described below. Familiarity with these sources is required. The cases that we will use are available online by clicking on the “Constitutional Law Case List (Fall 2011)” link, which is located on my webpage under the “Weekly Assignments” subheading.

You will also need a three-hole paper punch and several three-ring binders to hold the copies of court opinions that you download.

7.    REQUIRED OR SUGGESTED READINGS OR AUDIO-VISUAL MATERIALS

Strongly Recommended:

Nowak, John E., and Ronald D. Rotunda. Constitutional Law. (most recent ed.) St. Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing Co. This is in the book store and is intended to take the place of the casebook.

The United States Constitution Annotated, prepared by the Congressional Research Service of the United States Library of Congress, is also available on the web via Findlaw.com and USATODAY.com.

The opinions of the Supreme Court and other courts can be found on the Internet on a number of different sites. Three free sites that I suggest you use are (1) supreme.justia.com,  (2) Findlaw.com, and (3) LexisNexis Academic. LexisOne, which is another site that is useful for this course, is more restricted for legal research. The LexisNexis site is offered through your Marymount library ALADIN site. Go to "ALADIN Databases," then "All Marymount Databases," then find "LexisNexis Academic." Information about finding cases on Findlaw.com and Supreme Justia is contained in the Primer on American Courts and on the “Constitutional Law Case List (Fall 2011)” link. We will also explain how to access them in class. You will need to use these sites early in the semester;

We have many good texts in the library on law and constitutional law, including a complete collection of Supreme Court opinions (Lawyers' Edition). I shall make several assignments during the semester to brief the complete opinions from the Lawyers Edition. The library also receives a weekly publication called United States Law Week ("Law Week") which reports closely on the activities of the Supreme Court and other state and federal courts throughout the nation, and prints Supreme Court opinions a few days after they are announced. The "Advance Sheets" of the Lawyers Edition also publish Supreme Court opinions shortly after they are announced.

 Links to several of these sites are found on the webpage! Explore all of these sites.

A FEW FURTHER RULES

For the benefit of the class and your classmates, the following rules regarding electronic devices also apply to this course:

1.     Turn your cell phones off during the class. If you are expecting an important call, put your phone on “Vibrate,” sit near the door, and, when the call comes, answer it outside the classroom.

2.    It follows from the foregoing rule, but it must be separately stated: no talking and no texting on cell phones during class. If you do not follow this rule, I will publicly ask you to leave the room for the remainder of the class and will do my best to have you removed from the course for the rest of the semester.

3.   No open lap-top or other computers are allowed in class without my prior permission. Devices such as tablets, Ipads, Kindles, Kobos, and Nooks that lie flat on the desk and on to which the readings can be loaded are permitted if approved by me, but hard copies of the readings are better. You can mark them up and take notes on them in class.

These rules are necessary to foster a suitable learning environment in the classroom during class. There are enough distractions with lawnmowers, air conditioners, and other outside forces to combat during lectures and discussions without these controllable distractions within the room.