Constitutional Law

Professor Ari Ezra Waldman

he/him/his

In this course, we discuss the legal, political, and social regime established by the United States Constitution. This course isn't just about the three co-equal branches of government that are supposed to both work together to provide for the general welfare of the public and provide a check on each other's power. It is also about constitutional legal argumentation and, importantly, the ways in which law allocates power through the guise of constitutional interpretation. We will study how our government is set up, how its different parts work together, and the controversies that result. We also study some of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and how the federal courts have interpreted and extended (or constrained) those rights. But this course is only tangentially about structure and rights. It's really about power: who has it, who is supposed to have it, and what they can, cannot, and should not do with it. Constitutions--like all laws--allocate power. We will study the ways in which our constitution allocates power to some and takes it away from others.

I have three rules: Be present. Be engaged. Have fun!

Class Meetings

Office Hours

Teaching Assistants

We generally meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8-10 AM Eastern entirely online.

We will have some out-of-class activities that will take the place of some of our class times. That means that we will sometimes end before 10 AM. This is really an attempt to balance: (1) the need to get in a certain number of hours, (2) the basic human need to do something else other than sitting at our computers, and (3) to give you some practical activities.

My office hours are immediately after our class on Tuesday. I will use the Calendy app, so you can schedule 15 minute appointment blocks.

Alternatively, you can just stay in the zoom meeting after class, I will switch you to the waiting room during an appointment, and then let you in when there is an opening in the schedule. Given that uncertainty, I recommend making an appointment.


Our TAs are Rachel Moroknek, Alessia Mihok, and Alicia Chouinard (for Winter) and Ceclia MacArthur, Nassim Hosseinzadeh, and Rachael Wyant (for Spring). They will reach out and schedule office hours and review sessions.

I will encourage our amazing TAs to set up a Slack channel or some other form of communication that is just for you. I believe strongly in giving you the opportunity to discuss things and ask questions without me prying.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this semester, you should ...

  1. Describe the substantive law of constitutional structure, the 14th Amendment, and the 1st Amendment;

  2. Use creative thinking in problem-solving and analogical and deductive reasoning; and

  3. Describe or otherwise demonstrate understanding of the ways in which the law can work as an instrument of social change as well as the ways in which law can impede social change.

Also, we're going to have fun. I think that's a learning outcome, too!

Reading

Participation

Rules & Regs

1. Erwin Chemerinsky, Constitutional Law, 6th Edition

(You can buy an old edition, if you'd like. Those will be cheaper. But just keep in mind that some recent cases won't be in that edition and you'd just have to find them online).

2. Any supplemental materials I post to this website.

3. The freakin' news! But hopefully 2021 will be better than 2020 in that regard.

As the semester unfolds, I will supplement, subtract, revise the readings based on our interests, the news, and our pace. I appreciate the flexibility and I hope you will too.

Please note that I have provided questions to guide your reading. You will find them on the next page. These are not assignments that you have to hand in; no one will see your answers save you, assuming you write them down. However, they may help focus your reading on the topics and skills we will discuss in class. You should not restrict yourself to answering these questions, but you may use them as guides.

Recording

You are not permitted to record our synchronous classes. Consider this my only real rule.

Participation

Participation is essential for success in this class and in law school generally. Class is a discussion among all members of our community, and you should come to class prepared to participate. In the event that there are either an insufficient number or an insufficient variety of volunteers, I will call on you at random. You needn't worry about being called on if you're prepared for class.

Being prepared for class means:

1. You did the reading ... of course. Sometimes, you read it more than once.

2. You reflected on the readings through the questions in the text.

3. You looked up any terms you didn't understand.

4. You came to class with your readings annotated and your notes available.

Attendance

We are all adults here. As such, I will treat you like adults unless you give me a reason not to. You are expected to come to class, but sometimes life gets in the way ... especially now. We may (hopefully not) fall ill, or have to care for others who do. We may have children to care for, ill or not! If you can't make it to class one day, that's totally cool. Do not feel the need to send me a doctor's note or an explanation. Please do not ask me or our TAs to summarize the classes that you may miss. Please get the notes from a colleague.

Professionalism

We will maintain a courteous and professional learning environment. Professionalism means answering questions using appropriate tone and language. It means handing in assignments that reflect the same. Most importantly, it means treating everyone with respect. It means not using racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, anti-Indigenous, homophobic, transphobic, anti-Latinx, and other hateful language. I will not tolerate it. A classroom that tolerates hateful language is an oppressive classroom.