PLSC #305 LAW AND POLICY IN CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY Fall Term 2015
CRN17030: Online Course Professor Joanna Vecchiarelli Scott, PhD
You may contact me via email: jscott@emich.edu . Subject line for emails to me should include: your
name, the course name and CRN number. I will try to respond within 24 hours excluding weekends and
holidays. I will be online via iPhone, iPad and laptop. This course is entirely online, and there are no oncampus sessions or office hours. But I urge you to ask any questions you have as soon as possible: no question
is a ‘dumb’ question.
I. INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE: This course is primarily intended for Political Science majors,
other students interested in political science and Social Science teachers, K-12. It will explore the unique
nature of American Constitutional law and political processes, together with the cultural values and
experiences that have shaped them both. The goal of the course is to nurture informed, active
citizen/teachers through the development of critical thinking and analytic skills focused on American
Constitutional democracy as seen in the confluence of key judicial thinking from the beginning of the
Republic to today. It is not a course devoted to pure Casebook Law.
You will be reading two books (both in paperback), a substantial paper emailed out to you by me, some lecture
material in the course shell, and a few other handouts (emailed from me).
1) The central book by Lucas Powe looks at American political evolution through the eyes of the Judiciary from
1789 to 2008. 2) The second book is also a recent publication on Constitutional Law and its practical
applications today by Stephen Breyer, a current Supreme Court Justice. As Justice Breyer writes…”The key
lies in the Court’s ability to apply the Constitution’s enduring values to changing circumstances…The Court
must thoroughly employ a set of traditional legal tools in service of a pragmatic approach to interpreting the law.
It must understand that its actions have real world consequences. (xiii)”
(Note again: This course is not a case-by-case law course. It’s about Constitutional Ideas and public laws that
are politically contested by the President, Congress, and the States and may eventually wind up in the Supreme
Court for final decision on their constitutionality.)
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A key Resource for this course: At the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago-Kent Law School
there is a Technology/Media program explaining, analyzing and cataloging Supreme Court
cases going back years. Indeed, there are even a few cases in the very earliest sessions of the
Court in the beginning of the 19th century. This site is invaluable in giving you both
'thumbnail' sketches of the cases and 'deep dives.' If you are/or will be/or are thinking about
being a social science teacher you must 'bookmark' this site. If you have a tablet (iPad, etc.) all
the better because there is a free App.
The site is www.oyez.com; A second site is: www.scotusblog.com
I. INTRODUCTION TO THE PROFESSOR:
I am a Professor of Political Science. (http://www.joannavscott.com--a new webpage under construction),
educated at Barnard College (BA), Columbia University (MA) and the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK
(PhD). I came to EMU from California State University, Long Beach in 1990 and served 6 years as Dept. Head
in Political Science. I teach Political Theory and American Government. My professional activities also include
policy formation at the national level for our professional association in Washington, D.C, The American
Political Science Association. I have recently served as APSA Council member and then as Vice President of
the Council. I am also past President of the Women's Caucus for Political Science and member of the Standing
Committee on the Status of Women in Political Science.
The focus of my published research is 20th century political ideas in the U.S. and Europe, specifically during
the periods of WWII, the Holocaust and the Cold War. My work has been funded by the National Endowment
for the Humanities (5 Fellowships) and the Gilder Lehrman Foundation.
II. MY THEMES FOR THE COURSE
1) THE AMERICAN “CONSTITUTIONAL CREED”: Liberty, Equality, Democracy and the Role of
the Supreme Court throughout history but as importantly since WWII, 9/11, the "Great
Recession"(2008-09) and the recent Boston Marathon bombing.
This course will focus on the relationship between the three branches of government and, particularly, the way
in which the Federal Courts participate in ‘making public policy’ by making and interpreting Constitutional
Law. Or, as Justice Breyer of the Supreme Court puts it, we will focus on “making our democracy work.” (See:
Justice Breyer in the readings assigned below).
Ideas about Which Americans Continue to Argue
In the early 21st century American citizens are, to say the least, ambivalent about the role of the Federal
Government in their lives. Just as Americans expect the government to help them out with things they cannot
do for themselves (like fix the economy, protect their jobs, get them affordable medical coverage, provide
emergency Hurricane relief, track down Terrorists, assure racial justice), they also want to keep their individual
and group rights intact (the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment). While they sense that as they need more
from Washington, they have also seen that the ‘magic lamp’ has been rubbed and the Federal ‘genie’ is now on
the loose, getting more powerful with each new piece of legislation or court decision.
Americans want, for example: choice in doctors and medical procedures like abortion, freedom and privacy in
their online/mobile communication and even the right to own a variety of guns, to marry same-sex partners.
Yet, perhaps a minority, but a loud one, doesn't even want Medicare and Social Security to continue as publicly
funded programs, or pay taxes at all, or have any Federal regulation of the environment, of health and safety
standards, or of any business practices (even those that brought on the recent ‘Great Recession’). Another
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group of Americans (also small and loud) want laws and regulations to be made at the State legislative level
only, including returning to the 19th century practice of State Legislatures electing U.S Senators (instead of by a
majority vote of the State's population). All of these examples are displayed in the position of the "Tea Party"
which is now organized nationwide as a conservative "populist" adjunct to the Republican Party.
Many of the pros and cons of these issues will ultimately be contested in the US Court system (local, state, and
Federal) and some (actually very, very few: only about 40 cases per year make it to the Supreme Court
though many petition) will make it to the US Supreme Court. This course will look at how the Supreme Court
both acts as a referee as well as ‘partners’ with the other branches of government – Federal, state and local.
Of course there are some things that all Americans insist upon -- Tea Partiers especially.
One is that the Federal Government takes care of our national defense, including policing the borders of the
United States. Particularly in the Southwestern US (but elsewhere too), there is a growing resentment and fear
of Mexican, Central and South American immigrants. And as we have experienced in the past year, thousands
of children from Central American countries have crossed our border and sought refuge in the US. In times of
economic downturn like the past few years, this resentment of immigrants (11-12 million undocumented) has
spread throughout the US even to states where they are really a tiny proportion of the population. At the same
time, Americans on the Left and Right are today at odds about the solution to this and many other problems that
must involve the Federal Government, if there is to be any "workable" outcome. The problem of Immigration,
like that of access to health care and protecting the rights of "minorities" of sexual orientation, race and
ethnicity, are core American dilemmas involving the Federal Courts and our elected Branches of government in
the role of doing for the least among us what they cannot do for themselves.
These issues (despite the ‘easy rhetoric’ of politicians and pundits) are all very complicated, uniquely so
for Americans, because we are all still committed to the basic American values of "democracy," "equal
opportunity" and "liberty." These values are in fact what make America an exceptional nation. The
Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution became law just after the end of the Civil War and says (to
summarize)…that no State shall deny any person due process of law or equal protection of the law, and that all
people born or naturalized in this country are citizens of the United States. As children we all learned the words
of the inscription on the Statue of Liberty "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to
breathe free…” We are learning daily that "huddled masses" applies as well to many persons already here who
are American citizens as well, but who are poor, out of work, sick, homeless with no chance of access to "equal
opportunity" because the States in which they live cannot or will not supply the remedies.
On the matter of "security the homeland" itself, the way ahead is not clear. Even in the Post 9/11, the
recent Boston Marathon ‘bombing’ world, and the NSA/Edward Snowden surveillance issues, and now in
the shooting of a young African-American man in Ferguson, Missouri, Americans are also of two minds
on the subject of the increasing power and reach of the Federal Government: that is, how to balance the
need for protection of our nation from Jihadists (Islamic terrorists), but at the same time not surrender our Civil
Rights of free speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion and all of the personal rights we celebrate as
Americans. The Congressionally mandated authority of the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, and the new Department of
Homeland Security, to surveil, arrest and imprison citizens as well as and foreign nationals alarm many
Americans--conservative and liberal, Republican, Democrat and Tea partiers. All of these new and continuing
Federal powers reach down to all our home town police forces, libraries, universities, computers and cellphones
and our private lives. As you have no doubt recently noticed in the ‘headlines’, the use of ‘Drones’ abroad as
well as potentially at home sparked a US Senate Filibuster. These are not simple problems, and as a result this
will not be a simple course --though it will not be boring!
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What exactly should be the Role of Federal Law-Making and how does Judicial Review come about?
The Obama Administration has launched more federally funded "recovery" programs than any Administration
since the New Deal of President Franklin Roosevelt. This has galvanized both Liberals and Conservatives and
as with the Roosevelt Administration sparked lots of law suits.
On the one hand, Obama has raised hopes and expectations that the Government will be a positive, supportive
power in the lives of Americans, and promised resurgence in government support for State finances,
infrastructure construction, medical care, and education. The "bailouts" for the banking, financial and auto
industries, the Stimulus Package and Congressional passage of legislation to guarantee every American
affordable medical insurance by 2014--all were President Obama's response to the political "mandate" he
thought he got after the Nov., 2008 General Election and again in the 2012 Election, and the dire needs of the
country. To these should be added the Military and National Security policies put in place by the previous
George W. Bush Administration after 9/11/01, and continued almost un-changed by President Obama.
On the other hand, Americans, Tea Partiers and everyone else, are/have been scared, angry and looking for
answers and for help. While some expect Washington to deliver, others don’t want Washington to deliver and
see that as a ‘big government’ threat. Some applauded the banks and auto industry ‘bailouts’; some didn’t and
considered them a ‘Federal takeover’ of the private sector businesses. Of course, if banks collapse and
businesses large and small follow suit, then there will not be new jobs, or mortgages or health insurance, or
college education, etc. Many law suits have been filed against several of these initiatives based on ‘religious
beliefs,’ intrusion on states’ rights, etc.
2) INTERPRETING THE CONSTITUTION AND PUBLIC POLICY
As the legal scholar, Jeffrey Toobin, has remarked in the New Yorker (9.27.10), not since the Great Depression
(1932), when Pres. Franklin Roosevelt (Democrat) confronted the Supreme Court over his massive New Deal
Programs has a president attempted to expand the ‘regulatory’ power of the Federal Government as Pres.
Obama is doing in response to the Great Recession. The irony, of course, is that Obama argues that his electoral
‘mandate’ has given him leeway to greatly expand Federal power – i.e., “Yes we can…Change You Can
Believe in,” while the backlash against him has been significant and framed as ‘that’s not the change we voted
for’ or ‘where’s the job and mortgage help we asked for?” Obama’s critics on the Right think he has overreached, among them Republicans and Tea Partiers (whose members overlap). Critics on the Left, think he did
not go far enough in intervening in the economy in a Keynesian fashion (e.g., more stimuli via Federal jobs
programs, grants-in-aid to states, and other policies resembling the New Deal almost 70 years earlier.)
To touch on a number of these policy issues and their Constitutional roots, from regulation of the economy to
the rights of Americans and ‘enemy combatants,’ will be an important aspect of this course. We will cover:
1) The origins of Federal v. State powers and early conflicts over land development and the role of the
Supreme Court in adjudicating those issues. How did ‘Judicial Review’ come about?
2) The role of the Federal Government, particularly the Supreme Court, in interpreting the Bill of Rights
(1st ten amendments to the Constitution) and the 14th Amendment with respect to the Civil Rights ( for
example, African Americans) and Liberties (for example, gay Americans) in the 19th, 20th and 21st
centuries.
3) The role of $$ in politics from its origins in the 1860s to its role in the 2012 Presidential election (and
going forward). There have been a series of legislative reforms in campaign finance that many feel have
been thwarted by the US Supreme Court. Others have applauded these decisions as simply upholding
free speech.
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But you will come to understand that all sides use the language of American values – Liberty, Equality and
Democracy to explain their positions. Supreme Court Justice Breyer is a case in point. His argument for a
pragmatic approach to Constitutional interpretation (vs. an ‘Originalist’) sees the Supreme Court as both a
watchdog guarding the rules of ‘checks and balances’ that define how the President, the Congress, and the
courts make and enforce policies and, at the same time, seeing to it that their decisions do not violate the
cultural bedrock of ‘democracy’ which sustains not only the Courts but all branches of Government. The view
opposite to Justice Breyer’s is call “originalist.’ That is the words of the Constitution should not be re-crafted
from their original meaning and direction for all modern conditions. Justice Anton Scalia, on the current court,
is a proponent of this judicial/constitutional view.
SUMMARY:
Consider this as you think about the course: There is no such thing in America as ‘small government’ or a
Federal Court system that does not need to ‘police the boundaries’ (Breyer) between the Executive and
Legislative branches and the Constitution. And there hasn’t been since 1932, when Franklin Roosevelt reimagined and expanded the size of government in response to the Great Depression, the effects of World War I
and the coming of World War II. He did it by fighting the Supreme Court, and had to back down from his
effort/threat to ‘pack’ the Supreme Court by adding two more members to dilute the effect of the ‘nine old men.’
III. READING, DISCUSSION AND VIEWING REQUIREMENTS:
The two books listed below must be bought (you can own ‘virtual’ copies of at least one of them) and read; all
discussion topics must be addressed online. To get full Discussion credit all assignments for each Unit must
be done by the closing weekly date. While Exams can be taken anytime of the day or night, when you log on,
you have only 1 hour 15 min. Exams (3 exams in all) are given on the final day of the Unit. Again, you will be
able to take the exam any time you chose that day.
Course Syllabus
A. Primary Textbooks and Information Sources to be used for the Exams and for Online Discussion
assignments:
1) Stephen Breyer. Making Our Democracy Work: A judge’s view. 2010. New York. Knopf (also Kindle
edition), paperback.
2) Lucas A. Powe, Jr. The Supreme Court and the American Elite, 1798-2008, Harvard Univ. Press, 2009,
paperback
3) Howard Bunsis, PhD, CPA, Professor at EMU. “Citizens United: The Death of Representative
Government?” (This is a paper that will be distributed in PDF format by me to each student as a
framework for our Unit 2 Discussion Postings. No cost to students)
4) Discussion Sources: Reading the daily news with special emphasis on the Supreme Court. (Especially
currently because the Supreme Court has recently rendered opinions on same-sex marriage cases and we
will discuss them in Unit 3 of this course. The Court has in the past three years ruled on an Arizona
Immigration law, Campaign ($$) Finance (Our Unit 2 Discussion in this course), Obamacare (=
Affordable Health Care Act).
“Newspapers”: The New York Times is the best comprehensive news source in America
(www.nytimes.com). EMU has FREE copies of the Times available—if you are on campus, grab them
daily.
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Any major City paper is good too, such as: The Detroit Free Press, The Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles
Times, The Boston Globe etc. More focused on politics exclusively, and also an excellent source, is The
Washington Post (washingtonpost.com). Online specialized news sources include: Politico, the Huffington Post,
the Daily Beast, Salon, Slate. For British coverage of the US and the World: the BBC (BBC.co.uk), the
Guardian newspaper (guardian.co.uk) and Reuters news service (reuters.com).
Websites of particular Interest: www.scotusblog.com is a very good source of information on the
Supreme Court. www.oyez.com A university in Illinois logs in all the cases of the Supreme Court (very
comprehensive in the past several years) and has gone back in history and added some material on
critical cases…not all by any means. A great source for some of our discussions.
Use print, TV or virtual media sources that are credible, balanced and whose editorial statements are
verifiable--that is, not based primarily on conspiracy theories, political or religious ideology. That means,
The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal (news not editorials) -- not Fox Cable News (it's all editorials,
very little news). Reading news with a particular slant is fine, but only after you have gotten the facts first and
as unbiased an interpretation of them as possible. In your online discussions, you will be expected to base your
statements on evidence-based facts and reasoned opinion. Beliefs are not sufficient, unless accompanied by
facts. Remember: No ranting allowed! No ‘dissing’ fellow classmates. Engage in fact-based discussions.
IV. ORGANIZATION OF THE COURSE:
1. There are 14-15 weeks in this course (September 8-December 14). This course is entirely online -- no oncampus meetings. There are 3 Units -- each one will run for 4+ weeks. At the end of each Unit there will be an
examination.
a) Exam format: 3 Multiple choice exams.
(A study guide will be provided ahead of each exam.) Each Unit will also have supplementary lectures and
outlines (based on the textbooks and Discussions) inside the course shell. Questions will be drawn from the text
books and the Online Discussions in which I will participate with you, adding further information and analysis.
You will be tested on ALL the information assigned in the course readings, even if I have not referenced it. But
the study guide will give you the most important points to cover. Discussion Material and assignments will be
available for completion only during each 4+ week period, and will be closed thereafter.
b) Readings and Discussion postings occur AT THE SAME TIME. You should be reading and posting
simultaneously in Discussions ever week throughout the Fall Term. Your participation is worth 50% of the
course grade, and if you keep up, that is how you get full credit for each unit. My objective is to have all
students participate and get maximum credit for that!!
Here are some important rules to remember:
WORDS TO THE WISE
a) ALL WORK MUST BE COMPLETED DURING THE 2 or 3 WEEK PERIOD--NO
EXCEPTIONS WILL BE GIVEN.
b) YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL ASSIGNED READINGS.
c) THE UNIT EXAM IS AVAILABLE FOR ABOUT 24 HOURS AND YOU CAN
TAKE IT AT ANY TIME IN THAT PERIOD. BUT ONCE YOU DECIDE TO TAKE THE EXAM, IT
WILL BE OPEN FOR 1 HR. 15 MIN ONLY, AND THEN CLOSED.
d) OPPORTUNITY FOR POSTING TO THE DISCUSSION CLOSES ON THE LAST DAY OF
THE UNIT.
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e) THE "FINAL" EXAM FOR EACH UNIT WILL BE ON THE LAST DAY OF THE UNIT—
AGAIN, YOU WILL HAVE 1 HR AND 15 MINUTES TO COMPLETE IT.
f) THE FINAL EXAM IS NOT "CUMULATIVE"--IT IS FOCUSED ON THE
CHAPTERS IN
UNIT 3 OF THE COURSE.
g) A MISSED EXAM OR LATE DISCUSSION POSTINGS = 0
My Grading Policy: Exams count 50% and Discussion postings count 50%.
In an on-line course discussion matters! There are three criteria for assessing your posts and discussion threads:
1) The number of postings, 2) the timeliness of postings and 3) the quality of postings are vital. Postings are
written pieces by you and are a combination of factual information and your viewpoints with added discussion
by me and your classmates. You will be asked/required to react with posts to your classmates as a part of the
discussion. So, simply 'cutting' and 'pasting' (especially from Wikipedia) does not get you full discussion credit.
Consider this ‘classroom discussion’ -- so be informational, logical, use good proofread grammar, etc. I want
you to bring 'information to the table' by using the texts other internet sources your own viewpoint once having
thought about all the information.
Although I use 25 points per Discussion Unit and 100 points for each exam, I re-weight all grades to reflect a
grand total of 100 points (or 50-50 for Discussions and Exams.)
For this class, each student begins with the maximum score of 25 points per unit for Discussions. If you
fulfill the requirements listed above, you will retain the 25 points. If not, I will deduct points. Let me
emphasize that I do want all students to achieve all 50 Discussion points toward your final grade.
Deconstructing the grading even further: If each unit is worth 33.34 points, then the Unit exam = 16.67 points
and the Unit discussion = 16.67 points. So you can see that there are 3 Units with two grades in each unit (or 6
total grades).
You can see how important the Posting Discussion is: points for each discussion module are equal to the exam
score. You can't pass the course, if you don't participate in the Discussion Postings Threads in each of the Three
units because that equals 50% of your Total Grade.
In other words, you have complete control over 50% of your grade by simply ‘participating in class’ – that is
by posting your discussion entries for each unit. It should be a ‘slam dunk’ to get those 50 points. I want all of
you to get the maximum discussion points by simply ‘participating in class’ (or as Woody Allen said:
‘showing up.’) – that is by posting your discussion entries for each unit on time as specified in the course shell
and later in this syllabus. It should be a ‘slam dunk’ to get those 50 points.
Exams will incorporate ALL assigned information including: my online notes for each Unit; the assigned
readings in the 2 textbooks, the Discussion topics for each Unit.
Online Discussion among students (and me) will be read and assessed by me on the basis of 1) number of
postings, 2) the timeliness of postings, and 3) the quality of the content/your analysis. The Discussion
threads/Postings you make will respond to questions that I have set out each week and are directed at the formal
readings you are doing as well as some contemporary political issues that are being/have been contested in the
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Court system such as The Affordable Healthcare Act (= Obamacare), $$ in politics as free speech, same-sex
marriage, etc. In Discussions, when using text, or a paraphrase from an online or printed source in your
Discussion, you must provide a citation--the author/source (URL address and page if online.) You don't need
formal footnote conventions, just the information in parentheses after the citation or paragraph will do.
3. PLAGIARISM IS FORBIDDEN: Copying or paraphrasing someone else's work from any source,
found online or in print, and presenting it as your own (without a citation) is a violation of the
university's code of ethics. It is called "plagiarism." This applies to all assignments, including Online
Discussion and Multiple Choice exams, or in any form of communication with me. The punishment is
severe: I will fail you for the assignment, and for the course. No exceptions.
V: READINGS AND EXAM SCHEDULE:
Important: (Re) Read or Listen to the following, as background for the entire course.....
1) The Constitution of the United States, The Declaration of Independence, Federalist Paper #51
2) Pres. Obama's Speech at the University of Michigan Commencement, April, 2010 --Theme: The Importance
of the Government --Federal, State and local--to the quality of life of individual citizens and
communities. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-university-michigan-springcommencement
3) Listen to the NPR series on the Constitution: The Constitution Today, "The Diane Rehm Show" at npr.org
rebroadcast from 10.24.2010 (http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-10-24/constitution-today-separationpowers-rebroadcast
Unit #1: September 8-October 11 -- The Founding of America: Was the Supreme Court a truly co-equal
Branch of Government at the outset of the Republic? How did it gain legitimacy and become co-equal?
The Constitution and the development of Federalism
Lucas Powe, The Supreme Court and the American Elite:
Chapter 1: Very Modest Beginnings, pp. 1-28
Chapter 2: The Court in a Two-Party Republic, pp. 29-57
Chapter 3: The States and the Republic, pp. 58-84
Chapter 4: The Sectional Crisis and the Jacksonian Court, pp. 85-115
C) Breyer: Part 1 – The People’s Trust, pp. 1-2
Chapter 1: Judicial Review, The Democratic Anomaly, pp. 3-11
Chapter 2: Establishing Judicial Review, Marbury v. Madison pp. 12-21
Chapter 3: The Cherokees (1830’s), pp. 22-31
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Chapter 5: Little Rock (1957), pp. 49-67
Unit 1 as an example of Online Discussion Themes and ‘due dates:’
Weeks 1-2 (Sept. 8-20): The Affordable Healthcare Act (= Obamacare) has been upheld (found to be
Constitutional) by the US Supreme Court. And in 2015 after another challenge, it was upheld again. Briefly
research this on the Web (for example www.oyez.com in the 2011 Term or www.scotusblog.com) and describe
the issues at stake for each side and why it was eventually upheld. Be succinct! Would you have voted with the
majority or the minority (upholding the law originally it was a 5-4 Decision; most recently in 2015 the majority
was 6-3 upholding ‘state’/’Federal subsidies to Americans)??
Weeks 3 (Sept. 21-27): Read Breyer Chapters 3 and 5 for this … The Cherokee Nation Decision and President
Andrew Jackson: Worcester v. Georgia (1832) Discuss the interaction of National and state politics on the
Cherokee Nation.
Week 4 (Sept. 28-October 4): Pres. Jackson v. Pres. Eisenhower (Little Rock school integration case, 1957)
and enforcement of Supreme Court Decisions. Compare the approach of Jackson vs. Eisenhower.
Week 5 (October 5-11): Engage at least two other students in a discussion of your views and their views of the
Healthcare decision and Cherokee/Little Rock issues. (Engaging other students can be done in any week but
must be accomplished by the close of Unit 1 on Oct. 11.)
Unit 1 Exam: Monday, October 12, 2015 – Multiple Choice Exam
Unit #2: Law and Politics – October 12-November 8
A) Discussion focus: Citizens United Supreme Court Case…$$ vs Free Speech
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/citizens_united_v._federal_election_commission#opiniion_of_the_court
B) Bunsis, Howard: “Citizens United” Review Paper (emailed from Prof. Scott)
C) Breyer: Making Democracy Work, Part II Decisions that Work
Chapter 6: A Present Day Example, pp. 68-72
Chapter 7: Decisions that Work, 73-74
Chapter 8: Congress, Statutes and Purposes, pp. 75-87
D) Lucas Powe: The Supreme Court…
Chapter V: The Civil War and Reconstruction, pp. 116-147
Chapter VI: Industrializing America, pp. 148-176
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Chapter VII: Progressivism, Normalcy, and Depression, 177-212
Online Discussion topic: Money in Politics (1860s to 2012) – Campaign Finance and the Constitution –
Democracy in Action: Free Speech and $$$ (see topics at end of syllabus)
Unit 2 Exam: Monday November 9 Multiple Choice, I hr and 15 min
Unit 3: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties – November 9-December 13
A) Breyer: Part I
Chapter 4: Dred Scott pp. 32-48
Chapter 5: Little Rock (re-read this chapter), pp. 49-67
Chapter 6: A Present Day Example (re-read), pp. 68-72
Also Breyer Part III: Protecting Individuals, pp. 157-158
Chapter 12: Past Court Decisions: Stability, pp. 149-156
Chapter 13: Individual Liberty, Permanent Values and Proportionality, pp. 159-171
Chapter 14: The President, National Security and Accountability, pp. 172-193
Chapter 15: Presidential Power: Guantanamo and Accountability, pp. 194-214
B) Lucas Powe
Chapter 8: After the New Deal Constitutional Revolution, pp. 213-247
Chapter 9: Reforming America, pp. 248-282
Chapter 10: An Uneasy Status Quo pp. 283-311
Unit 3: Online Discussion Theme: Freedom v. Regulation (summary: see end of syllabus).
Final Exam: Unit 3 – Monday, December 14: Multiple Choice
VI: THE FOLLOWING IS A SUMMARY OF THE ONLINE DISCUSSION TOPICS AND
QUESTIONS FOR THE ENTIRE COURSE
Unit 1: Online Discussion: September 8-October 11
Recent articles and summaries of the key points of the Affordable Healthcare Act legislation and litigation:
2010-2012 and second case in 2015
The Cherokee Decision and President Jackson: Worcester v. Georgia (1832). (See Breyer’s discussion; also in
Lucas Powe).
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Compare President Jackson vs. President Eisenhower (Little Rock Integration 1957) (see Breyer’s discussion)
Post a response to the following questions:
1) September 8-September 20: Go out on the Web and find a summary of what the legal challenges were to
the Affordable Healthcare Act (= Obamacare) legislation (both in 2012 and 2015). It had been contested
in Michigan and several other states as well as taken up by Attorneys General in 20+ states (at least 19 of those
states were 'red' states from the last presidential election). 1) What are the competing issues? 2) How did the
Supreme Court originally uphold the Act? Where do you stand on the core competing issues? Why the
emphasis of Pres. Obama on Healthcare? How did the Supreme Court uphold the ‘subsidies’ issue in 2015?
2) September 21-September 27: Using your Breyer reading, the Powe book Chapter, and research online…
what were the issues among the 'actors': The Cherokees, the State of Georgia, the President (Andrew Jackson)
and the Supreme Court?
3) September 28 - October 4: Is there a parallel between this case from the 1830's and the 1957-58 Little
Rock cases? Discuss Breyer's point about "making the Constitution work" and how it fits with the outcome of
the Cherokee case and the Little Rock Case. What worked and why? Use the Breyer book.
4) October 5-11: At any time in the course but no later than Oct. 11, engage at least 2 other students' points of
views on the issues in the Cherokee Nation, Little Rock or Healthcare litigation we researched in the prior
weeks.
Unit 2: Online Discussion: October 12-November 8
Discussion Topic: Campaign Finance, money in politics, free speech and the Constitution
Post a response to the following…
1) October 12-18: Briefly describe the Key Issues in the Citizens United Case.
2) October 19-25: After the November, 2010 Elections, what was the impact of the Citizens United Supreme
Court Decision on the financing of Democrats, Republicans and new Political movements like the Tea Party on
House and Senate Elections? What happened in the 2012 Elections as a consequence of the Citizens United
decision. That is amount of money spent on the campaigns…?
3) October 26-November 1: Discuss the History of campaign financing in America. What is different about
the history of campaign financing in the 19th and 20th centuries?
4) November 2-8: Discuss the controversial issue of the Bill of Rights, the 14th Amendment, and the ways in
which corporations have been interpreted as "citizens" by Federal Courts + engage at least 2 other students on
whether you think this is 'fair' or will distort our elections in the future.
Unit 3: Online Discussion: Civil Right/Civil Liberties -- November 9-December 14
Post 1) November 9-15: What were the issue(s) that caused significant civil unrest, protests and some violence
in Ferguson, Missouri and Baltimore, MD since mid-August 2014? Why did this spin out of control? How
unique an event was/is this?
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Post 2) November 16-22: Issues are 1) Gay marriage in California and 2) Federal Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA, 1996). Go out to the Web and look up the legislation and litigation trial on California's Prop. 8:
Prohibiting Gay Marriage (from California to the Supreme Court). Trace the history of the issue in California.
What were/are the key arguments for or against 'gay marriage' as framed in the litigation on California's Prop 8.
Also summarize the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act and what the Supreme Court ultimately ruled. What
happened at the Supreme Court on the ‘gay marriage issue’ in 2015?
Post 2a) November 23-Nov. 29: In the 'lame duck' session of Congress (November -December 2010),
legislation was passed that set out the direction for eliminating 'Don't Ask/Don't Tell' as a policy dismissing
openly gay service men and women. Just prior to that, a California Federal Judge had "so ordered" that
wherever US Armed Forces are stationed it will be in violation of fundamental rights to deny Gay service men
and women the opportunity to identify themselves as such, and to penalize them for so doing. What does this
mean in terms of Constitutional law--what rights were Judge Philips insisting on, and what do you think of her
argument? Do you think this put pressure on the Congress to act as it did in the 'lame duck' session?
Post 3) Also in November 30-December 6: The Breyer book lays out all the Constitutional issues raised by the
Supreme Court with respect to both the Korematsu (Japanese internment in WWII) and the Guantanamo
cases. Discuss the cases. In the Guantanamo cases how the Court majority decided with respect to habeas
corpus rights of prisoners. How does Breyer see these cases? How does he explain the "pragmatic" reasoning
of the Courts?
Post 4) December 7-13 Re-engage at least two students on any of the case/issues above in this Unit: Civil rights
and profiling; 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell', Gay Marriage, DOMA, incarceration of the Japanese or the terrorists
cases.
Unit 3 Final Exam: Monday, Dec. 14 Exam is 1 hr and 15 minutes and opens at 12:30 AM on Dec. 14;
closes on 12:59 Dec. 14
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