SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER
PROFESSOR EVELYN L. WILSON
COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
Summer 2014 - London, England
MTWTh 10:30 a.m. – 12:20 am
Office Hours: 12:50 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Contact Info: Ewilson@sulc.edu
US phone number: (225) 771-4901
Required Course Materials:
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
LANDBERG AND JACOBS, GLOBAL ISSUES IN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (WEST 2007)
Any Constitutional Law casebook containing most of the cases listed below
Course content and scope:
This course will introduce students to important individual rights guaranteed to
persons by the United States Constitution through four major topic areas: Equal
Protection, Fundamental Rights, Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion. In
addition, it will include discussions of issues related to these topics raised in other
nations. This course will substitute for SULC’s Constitutional Law II course in SULC’s
required curriculum.
Your grade will be based on class participation, a short paper and a final exam.
Class coverage and required reading:
1-
Introduction to Comparative Constitutional Law
Constitutional development in the US and elsewhere
Review of the content and structure of the United States Constitution
Orientation to Equal Protection: Rational basis, Intermediate and Strict Scrutiny
2-Equal
Protection
Rational basis test
NYC Transit Authority v. Beazer, 440 US 568 (1979)
Backdrop to Equal Protection Analysis
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 US (19 How.) 393 (1857)
Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 US 537 (1986)
Strict Scrutiny
Strauder v. West Virginia, 100 US (10 Otto) 303 (1880)
Korematsu v. United States, 323 US 214 (1944)
3-Equal
Protection
Movie: Road to Brown
Brown v. Board of Education, 347 US 483 (1954) (Brown I)
Brown v. Board of Education, 349 US 294 (1955) (Brown II)
Loving v. Virginia, 518 US 515 (1990)
Wilson, Comp. Const. Law 2014 Syllabus page 1
Global Issues pages 86 to 108
4-Equal
Protection
Remedying Past Discrimination
Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena, 515 US 200 (1995)
Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 US 306 (2003)
Parents Involved v. Seattle, 551 US 701 (2007)
Fisher v. Univ. of Texas at Austin, 133 S. Ct. 2411 (2014)
Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Aff. A., ___ S. Ct. ___ (Apr. 22, 2014)
5-Equal
Protection
Gender and Sexual Orientation
Craig v. Boren, 429 US 190 (1976)
United States v. Virginia, 518 US 515 (1996)
Romer v. Evans, 517 US 620 (1996)
United States v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675 (1913)
Other groups
Global Issues pages 108 to 124
6-Equal
Protection Review
7-Fundamental
Rights
Privileges and Immunities
The Slaughter-House Cases, 83 US (16 Wall.) 36 (1873)
Due Process and Incorporation
McDonald v. Chicago, 130 S. Ct. 3020 (2010)
Substantive Due Process
Lochner v. New York, 198 US 45 (1905)
8- Fundamental
Rights
Right to Offspring
Skinner v. Oklahoma, 316 US 535 (1942)
Right to Vote
Harper v. Virginia State Board, 383 US 663 (1966)
Reynolds v. Sims, 377 US 533 1964)
Shelby County, Ala. v. Holder, 133 S. Ct. 2612 (2013)
Right to Travel
Shapiro v. Thompson, 394 US 618 (1969)
9- Fundamental
Rights
Right to an Education
San Antonio School District v. Rodriguez, 411 US 1 (1973)
Phyler v. Doe, 457 US 202 (1982)
Right to Privacy
Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 US 479 (1965)
Wilson, Comp. Const. Law 2014 Syllabus page 2
Right to an Abortion
Roe v. Wade, 410 US 113 (1973)
Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 US 833 (1992)
Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 US 124 (2007)
10-Fundamental
Rights
Right to Choose Associates
NAACP v. Alabama, 357 US 449 (1958)
Lawrence v. Texas, 539 US 558 (2003)
Right to Die
Cruzan v. Missouri Dept of Health, 497 US 261 (1990)
Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 US 707 (1997)
Procedural Due Process
Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 US 319 (1976)
11-Fundamental
Rights
Contract and Takings Clauses
Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, 260 US 393 (1922)
Penn Central Transportation Co. v. NYC, 438 US 104 (1978)
Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, 505 US 1003 (1992)
Kelo v. New London, 545 US 469 (2005)
Global Issues pages 125 to 158
12-
Fundamental Rights Review
13-
Freedom of Expression
Content Based Restrictions: Dangerous Ideas
Schenck v. United States, 249 US 47 (1919)
Dennis v. United States, 341 US 494 (1951)
Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 US 444 (1969)
Feiner v. New York, 340 US 315 (1951)
New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 US 713 (1971)
Global Issues pages 159 to 165
14-
Freedom of Expression
Overbreadth, Vagueness, Prior Restraint
Gooding v. Wilson, 405 US 518 (1972)
Lowell v. Griffin, 303 US 444 (1938)
Content Based Restrictions: Low First Amendment Value Compared to Harm
New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 US 254 (1964)
Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn, 420 US (1975)
Global Issues pages 165 to 171
15- Freedom
of Expression
Va. Bd. of Pharmacy v. Va. Citizens Consumer Coun., 425 US 748 (1976)
Miller v. California, 413 US 15 (1973)
Cohen v. California, 403 US 15 (1971)
Wilson, Comp. Const. Law 2014 Syllabus page 3
R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul, 505 US 377 (1992)
Virginia v. Black, 538 US 343 (2003)
Global Issues pages 171 to 178
16-Freedom
of Expression
Content Neutral Restrictions
Adderley v. Florida, 385 US 39 (1966)
Police Dept. of Chicago v. Mosley, 408 US 92 (1972)
US v. O’Brien, 391 US 367 (1968)
Citizens United v. Federal Elections Comm., 558 US 310 (2010)
McCutcheon v. Federal Election Com’n, 134 S.Ct. 1434 (2014)
17-Freedom
of Religion
Establishment Clause
Lee v. Weisman, 505 US 577 (1992)
Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 US 668 (1984)
Mueller v. Allen, 463 US 388 (1983)
Free Exercise Clause
Employment Division, DHR v. Smith, 494 US 872 (1990)
Church of Jesus Christ of LDS v. Amos, 483 US 327 (1987)
Global Issues pages 179-203
18-State Action
Flagg Brothers v. Brooks, 436 US 149 (1978)
Shelley v. Kramer, 334 US 1 (1948)
Heart of Atlanta, 379 US 241 (1964)
Burton v. Wilmington Parking, 365 US 715 (1961)
Moose Lodge No 107 v. Irvis, 407 US 163 (1972)
Marsh v. Alabama, 326 US 501 (1946)
19-Freedom
20-Final
of Expression and Freedom of Religion Review
Exam
Wilson, Comp. Const. Law 2014 Syllabus page 4
DAY
Week 1
Monday
DATE
TOPIC OF DISCUSSION
June 23
Introduction to Comparative Constitutional Law
Tuesday
June 24
1. Equal Protection
2. Equal Protection
Wednesday
June 25
Thursday
June 26
Monday
June 30
Tuesday
July 1
Evening Orientation
3. Equal Protection
No class
8:30 Visit Royal Courts of Justice, etc.
Week 2
4. Equal Protection
5. Equal Protection
Wednesday
July 2
Thursday
July 3
Monday
July 7
Tuesday
July 8
No class
Tour: Lloyd’s of London, One Lime Street
Wednesday
July 9
9. Fundamental Rights
Thursday
July 10
12:20 – optional trip to The Hague
No Class
Optional trip to an International Court
Monday
July 14
Tuesday
July 15
Wednesday
July 16
Thursday
July 17
6. Equal Protection Review
7. Fundamental Rights
Week 3
8. Fundamental Rights
Week 4
10. Fundamental Rights
11. Fundamental Rights
12. Fundamental Rights Review
13. Freedom of Expression
Monday
July 21
Tuesday
July 22
Wednesday
July 23
Thursday
July 24
Monday
July 28
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
July 29
July 30
July 31
Week 5
14. Freedom of Expression
15. Freedom of Expression
16. Freedom of Expression
Week 6
No class – long weekend
17. Freedom of Religion
18. State Action
19. Freedom of Religion and Expression Review
8:30 Final examination: Comp Const Law
Wilson, Comp. Const. Law 2014 Syllabus page 5