Con Law I
Constitutional Law
Methods
Prof. Steven Jamar
January 2008
Reading Cases Generally
 3 things
 Rules, policies, principles of law
 Factual settings in which they arise
 Reasoning used by courts
 Analysis
 Enthymeme (rule-based reasoning)
 Comparison (analogizing and
distinguishing)
Reading Con Law Cases
 Rules, policies, principles of law
 Factual settings in which they arise
 Power relationships of Federal, State, & the
People
 Powers and Limitations of Executive,
Legislative, and Judicial branches of federal
government
 Reasoning used by courts
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Analysis
Enthymeme (rule-based reasoning)
Comparison (analogizing and distinguishing)
Methods of/approaches to constitutional
interpretation
Constitutional
Interpretation
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Text
History
Purpose
Effect
 Living Constitution
 Originalist understandings
Interpretation–
Considerations
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Federalism
Justice
Balance of powers
Efficiency
Rights
Majoritarianism
Con Law – Exams
 Doctrine (rules)
 Issue-spotting (knowing when to use
which rules)
 Application (connecting law to facts)
(“because” structure)
 Use of Con Law principles of
federalism, balance of powers,
modes of interpretation
Con Law Exam Answer
Structure
 IN GENERAL – there are exceptions
 Issue
 Statement of legal rules; development of legal
rules as needed
 Application of rules to facts
 “This rule applies to this fact with this result because”
 Analogizing to other cases
 Using federalism, balance of power, modes of
interpretation, and other policies and principles as
appropriate to reach an answer (these are rules in this
context –apply them to the facts of the problem )
 Conclusion
Forest and Trees
 Forest – Standing
 What is standing all about? How does
it fit in with ideas of federalism and
balance and distribution of powers?
 Trees – Standing
 Basic test for standing
 Refinements
 Special situations (e.g., groups;
environment)
For Bar Exam
 Issue spotting – Which fact patterns
give rise to what issues?
 Rules – instrumental understanding
– black letter law – especially
standards of review
 Application – “because”
 Conclusion – decide the issue
NOT on Bar Exam
(mostly)
 Methods of interpretation
 Principles and Policies (as distinguished
from hard-edged rules and legal tests)
 Why?
 Political theory
 Economic impact
 Evaluation of rules: do they produce
justice?