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Civil Rights/Civil Liberties
POLS 251B-3

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Former South Carolina Govenors John West, center, and Robert McNair, far left, stand with legislators who served in 1962 when the Confederate flag was hoisted atop South Carolina's Statehouse dome, during a news conference Tuesday, Dec. 7, 1999, at the Statehouse in Columbia, S.C. The group met to petition the South Carolina legislature to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)

Instructor: Artemus Ward

Office Hours (Fall 99)

Days and Times: Tues 12:30-3:30; Wed 2-3; Thur 12:30-1:30
Office Location: Butte Hall 722
Office Phone: 898-6036
Home Phone: 895-1157

Class Information

Days and Times: Tue/Thur 9:30-10:45
Location: Holt Hall 266

Fall 99 Class Schedule
More about Political Science at Chico State

Class Description

This course is chiefly about the rights that individuals are guaranteed in a constitutional government. Are some rights more important than others? Is the Constitution clear about individuals' rights and liberties? We will read a number of court cases and study some of what the U.S. Supreme Court has done over the last 200 years, with an eye to critically assessing the political role of the courts in promoting basic constitutional values. We will study and argue out some of the most important controversies surrounding the Constitution: debates about judicial activism and the proper role of the courts in a democratic sysytem of government, and the question of whether constitutional interpreters should be guided by the "intentions of the framers" and whether there are "unremunerated" constitutional rights.

Every student must be actively involved in debating the problems raised by this class. This course is not about memorizing and regurgitating cases and holdings, it is fundamentally about developing your own critical, informed view of the place of judicially guaranteed constitutional values in our system of government.

University Catalog Description

Course Requirements

• Attendance and in class participation;
• Supreme Court exercise and paper - all students are required to participate in the exercise acting as a Supreme Court Justice. The paper will be 5-6 pages written in the form of an opinion (either majority, concurring, or dissenting) on a case. You are required to write only one opinion (paper) but you may also write additional opinions for additional credit if you wish. See the Study Guide for helpful hints.
• Final Exam (in class Tuesday Dec 14 12-1:50).

Grading

Attendance & Participation 20%

Supreme Court exercise and paper 40%

Final 40%

Final grades will be determined by the following scale:

93-100 = A

90-92 = A-

87-89 = B+

83-86 = B

80-82 = B-

77-79 = C+

73-76 = C

70-72 = C-

60-69 = D

0-59 = F

Required Text:

Constitutional Law for a Changing America: Rights, Liberties, and Justice, 3rd ed., by Lee Epstein and Thomas G. Walker (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1998).

Where to Begin on the WWW?

Calendar

Week 1   Introduction 
Tue. Aug. 24   Constructing Briefs; Incorporation 
Wed. Aug. 25   Incorporation of the Bill of Rights: pp.66-88 including Barron v. 
	       Baltimore (1833), Hurtado v. California (1884), Palko v. Connecticut 
               (1937), Duncan v. Louisiana (1968).
 
Week 2   Religion I 
Tue. Aug. 30   Free Exercise I: pp. 95-122 including Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940), 
               Sherbert v. Verner (1963), Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972).  
Thu. Sep. 2    Free Exercise II: pp. 123-145 including Employment Division v. Smith 
               (1990), Church of the Lukumi v. Hialeah (1993), Boerne v. Flores (1997).
  
Week 3   Religion II
Tue. Sep. 7    Establishment I: pp. 146-173 including Everson v. Board of Education 
               (1947) and Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971).
Thu. Sep. 9    Establishment II: pp. 174-200 including Agostini v. Felton (1997), 
               Rosenberger v. University of Virginia (1995), Edwards v. Aguillard 
               (1987).
  
Week 4   Religion III 
Tue. Sep. 14   (Establishment II cases cont. including Edwards v. Aguillard (1987))                
Thu. Sep. 16   Establishment III: pp. 201-223 including School District of Abington 
               Township v. Schempp (1963), Wallace v. Jaffree (1985), Lee v. 
               Weisman (1992).
 
Week 5   Speech I 
Tue. Sep. 21   Speech In Times of Crisis I: pp. 225-245 including Schenck v. United 
               States (1919), Abrams v. United States (1919), Gitlow v. New York 
               (1925).                                                       
Thu. Sep. 23   Speech in Times of Crisis II: pp. 246-255 including Dennis v. United 
               States (1951), Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969).   

Week 6   Speech II 
Tue. Sep. 28   Regulating Expression I: pp. 256-272 including United States v. 
               O'Brien (1968), Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), Texas v. Johnson (1989).
Thu. Sep. 30   Regulating Expression II: pp. 273-290 including Chaplinsky v. New 
               Hampshire (1942), Cohen v. California (1971), Madsen v. Women's Health 
               Center, Inc. (1994).
 
Week 7   Speech III 
Tue. Oct. 5    Regulating Expression III: pp. 291-304 including R.A.V. v. St. Paul 
               (1992), Wisconsin v. Mitchell (1993), West Virginia Board of 
               Education v. Barnette (1943).
Thu. Oct. 7    CONFERENCE DAY I - Justices meet to deliberate, vote on cases and 
               assign opinions. 
 
Week 8   Privacy I
Tue. Oct. 12   Intimacy & Relationships: pp. 409-425 including Griswold v. 
               Connecticut (1965), Bowers v. Hardwick (1986).
Thu. Oct. 14   Death & Dying: pp. 426-441 including Cruzan v. Director, Missouri 
               Dept. of Health (1990), Washington v. Glucksberg (1997). 
 
Week 9   Privacy II & Civil Rights: Discrimination I 
Tue. Oct. 19   Abortion: pp. 442-478 including Roe v. Wade (1973), Planned Parenthood 
               v. Casey (1992).  
               Draft majority and dissenting opinions due at start of class. 
Thu. Oct. 21   Racial Discrimination I: pp. 629-651 including Plessy v. Ferguson 
               (1896), Shelley v. Kraemer (1948), Sweatt v. Painter (1950).
 
Week 10  Civil Rights: Discrimination II
Tue. Oct. 26   Racial Discrimination II: pp. 652-660 including Brown v. Board of 
               Education (I) (1954), Brown v. Board of Education (II) (1955), 
               Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority (1961).
               Responses to draft opinions due at start of class.
Thu. Oct. 28   Racial Discrimination III: pp. 661-679 including Loving v. Virginia 
               (1967), Moose Lodge #107 v. Irvis (1972), Swann v. Charlotte-
               Mecklenburg (1971), United States v. Fordice (1992).
  
Week 11  Civil Rights: Discrimination III 
Tue. Nov. 2    Affirmative Action I: pp. 725-740 including Regents of the University 
               of California v. Bakke (1978), Johnson v. Transportation Agency of 
               Santa Clara (1987).
Thu. Nov. 4    Affirmative Action II: pp. 740-751 including City of Richmond v. 
               J.A. Croson Co. (1989), Adarand Constructors v. Pena (1995). 
 
Week 12  Civil Rights: Discrimination IV 
Tue. Nov. 9    CONFERENCE DAY II - Justices meet to deliberate, vote on cases 
               and assign opinions.
               Final opinions due from Conference I.
Thu. Nov. 11   Sex Discrimination I: pp. 680-689 including Reed v. Reed (1971), 
               Frontiero v. Richardson (1973).
 
Week 13  Civil Rights: Discrimination V 
Tue. Nov. 16   Sex Discrimination II: pp. 689-696 including Craig v. Boren (1976), 
               Orr v. Orr (1979).
Thu. Nov. 18   Sex Discrimination III: pp. 696-709 including United States v. 
               Virginia (1996), Rostker v. Goldberg (1981).
 
Week 14   
Tue. Nov. 23   Thanksgiving Break 
Thu. Nov. 25   Thanksgiving Break 
 
Week 15  Civil Rights: Discrimination VI & Voting and Representation I
Tue. Nov. 30   Other forms of Discrimination: pp. 709-725 including Romer v. Evans 
               (1996), San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez (1973).
               Draft majority and dissenting opinions due at start of class.
Thu. Dec. 2    Voting Rights: pp. 756-768 including Louisiana v. United States (1965), 
               South Carolina v. Katzenbach (1966).
 
Week 16  Civil Rights: Voting & Representation II 
Tue. Dec. 7    Political Representation I: pp. 769-784 including Baker v. Carr (1962), 
               Reynolds v. Sims (1964).
               Responses to draft opinions due at start of class. 
Thu. Dec. 9    Political Representation II: pp. 784-798 including United Jewish 
               Organizations of Williamsburgh v. Carey (1977), Miller v. Johnson 
               (1995).
 
Week 17   Final
Tue. Dec. 14   FINAL EXAM 12-1:50 
               Final opinions from Conference II due