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2010/1 Module Catalogue
 Module Code: LAW3056 Module Title: CONSTITUTIONAL LAW OF THE USA
Module Provider: School of Law Short Name: LAW3056
Level: HE3 Module Co-ordinator: MARRIOTT JE Dr (Schl of Law)
Number of credits: 30 Number of ECTS credits: 15
 
Module Availability
Both semesters
Assessment Pattern

Unit(s) of Assessment

Weighting Towards Module Mark( %)

3 hour unseen examination

80%

2000 word essay

20%

Module Overview

This module examines American Constitutional Law through the lens of Supreme Court jurisprudence. 

The Supreme Court stands at the heart of the American legal system, upholding the Constitution above all else and attempting to ensure that American government remains one of limited power and due process.  As such, the Supreme Court possesses unrivalled authority – a situation that might be considered unusual by students of English constitutional law.  Although the form of the American Constitution has remained relatively unchanged since the inclusion of the Bill of Rights in 1791, the interpretation of this document at the hands of the Supreme Court, through its own arrogation of the power of judicial review, has resulted in many substantive changes to the rights and powers it sets out.  This module, necessarily selective in its coverage, focuses on those areas and issues that have produced some of ’s most abiding constitutional controversies - slavery, segregation, voting rights, abortion, the death penalty, campaign finance and so on (see below).  By the end of the module, students will have gained a knowledge and understanding of the history, foundation and role of the American Constitution and the institutions that were created by it.  They will have a knowledge and understanding of constitutional controversies, past and present, be able to consider critically both Supreme Court case law concerning individual constitutional rights and the role of the Supreme Court in shaping that case law, and will have a good grasp of the historical, political, social, legal and economic contexts in which the Constitution operates.
Prerequisites/Co-requisites
Public Law
Module Aims

This module examines the nature and scope of constitutional law and constitutional rights in the .  The module has four elements:

  1. Historical origins of the Constitution and its provisions for the distribution of power among state and federal institutions.
  2. The role and nature of the Supreme Court and the theory and practice of constitutional interpretation.
  3. Constitutional rights and abiding constitutional controversies (e.g. free speech, abortion, the death penalty) examined through the lens of US Supreme Court jurisprudence.
4.       Restraining the Supreme Court.
Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course students should:

  • Have a knowledge and understanding of the history, foundation and role of the American Constitution and the institutions that were created by it.
  • Have a knowledge and understanding of American Constitutional Law.
  • Have a knowledge and understanding of constitutional controversies, both past and present.
  • Be able to consider critically Supreme Court case law concerning individual constitutional rights and the role of the Supreme Court in shaping that case law.
Have a good grasp of the historical, political, social, legal and economic contexts in which the Constitution operates.
Module Content

 Topics covered:

  • The birth of the Constitution
  • Federalism
  • Presidential, Congressional, State and Judicial Power
  • The foundation of judicial review: Marbury v Madison
  • Constitutional interpretation in theory and practice
  • Socio-Economic Development: the Great Depression, the New Deal, welfarism

·      Freedom of Speech: the role of free speech, categories of speech, controls on speech, McCarthyism

·      Political Participation: the electoral system, voting rights, ballot access, redistricting, campaign finance

·      Racial Discrimination: slavery, segregation, affirmative action

·      Rights of Privacy: abortion, homosexuality, search and seizure, the right to die

·      Rights of the Accused: due process, trials, juries, the death penalty

·      Religious Freedom: separation of church and state, the free exercise clause, creationism, the treatment of particular religious groups 

·      The Constitution post 9/11: the War on Terror, Guantanamo , deployment of armed forces
Methods of Teaching/Learning
2 hour seminars
Selected Texts/Journals

Essential reading

Fisher American Constitutional Law 6th Ed ( Durham, North Carolina , Carolina Academic Press, 2005) in two volumes:

Volume 1 Constitutional Structures: Separated Powers and Federalism

Volume 2 Constitutional Rights: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

Background reading

Chemerinsky Constitutional Law: Principles and Policies, 3rd Ed ( New York , Aspen Publishers, 2006)

Schwartz A History of the Supreme Court (New York, Oxford University Press, 1995)

Beard An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the (Minneola, New York, Dover Publications Inc, 2004)

Devins and Fisher The Democratic Constitution (New York, Oxford University Press, 2004)

Bailyn The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution (Cambridge, Massachusetts, Belknap Press, 1992)

Segal, Spaeth and Benesh The Supreme Court in the American Legal System (New York, Cambridge University Press, 2005)
Last Updated
 February 2008