CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

(Courses: Constitutional Law I, Constitutional Law II, The First Amendment)





Constitutional Law I, Fall 1998 (Section B)
The survey course in Constitutional Law offers the law student her or his first chance to see how legal politics and political law are practiced as well as posing an almost unending list of controversial subjects. It is the study of a text (the United States Constitution of 1788 as amended) and of how that text has played out in our national life. It is also a study of constitutional law in the lower case mode: this is the gritty work of following the role of that text in defining the actual levers of social, economic and political power. It is a not yet ended tale.

In the Hofstra Law catalog, the course is broken down into two units. The first, to be given in the Fall, relates to the body of the Constitutional text, that is, Articles I. II and III and the legislative, executive and judicial institutions those articles create and the reciprocal effect of those institutions on the States, whose preservation, coordination and subordination were major achievements of the Constitutional text.
 

Statement on Grading, Attendance, Participation

Useful Constitutional Law Links

Syllabus

Professor Jacob will regularly be available to see students on Wednesdays and Thursdays between 3 and 5 and, otherwise, when you find him. He is also enthusiastically available on e-mail at lawbej. E-mail queries will be answered as promptly as possible. This syllabus and other material in the course can also be found at Professor Jacob's website reached through the website of the Law School. Note: Readings are in LOCKHART, et al., CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: CASES, COMMENTS, QUESTIONS, 8th ed. with 1998 Supplement,** unless otherwise stated. ALWAYS CHECK SUPPLEMENT; YOU ARE TO READ SUPPLEMENT MATERIAL TIED INTO ALL ASSIGNED READINGS UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFICALLY STATED. ** Please be careful: Lockhart, et al. put out three casebooks which cover a lot of the same materials. In addition to our casebook, CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: CASES, COMMENTS, QUESTIONS, 8th ed. with 1998 Supplement, they put out THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION and CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES. Finally, there are still copies of earlier editions floating around the second-hand market (especially 7th ed.). MAKE SURE YOU GET THE RIGHT TEXT.
Hour 1: Reading: UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION (Appendix B to Casebook)
Hours 2-6: Reading: Chapter 1, pp. 1-57
Hours 7-16: Reading: Chapter 2, pp. 58-171
Hour 17: Handout
Hour 18: Potential Quiz Hour
Hours 19-23: Reading: Chapter 3, pp. 172-219
Hours 24-31: Reading: Chapter 4, pp. 220-285
Hour 32: Reading, Chapter 5, pp. 287-291 only
Hour 33: Potential Quiz Hour
Hours 34-42: Reading: Chapter 6, pp. 314-368
 

The First Amendment

A SIU speech communication sophomore splashed gasoline on himself and lit it as part of demonstration speech. He was taken to the hospital after he was sprayed with a fire extinguisher from the hall and wrapped in a wet sheet he had brought with him to class. He suffered second degree burns. A graduate teaching assistant indicated that before the speech the student asked permission to "do something special," but didn't say what. Topics in the class are not announced in advance. Spectra (newsletter of the National Communication Association, an association for teachers of rhetoric and communication) May, 1996
 

Useful First Amendment Links

August 13, 1998

NOTICE

Revised FIRST AMENDMENT Offering
THE FIRST AMENDMENT: SPEECH,
ASSOCIATION AND RELIGION CLAUSES
was originally offered as a 3 unit course in Fall, 1998. It is hereby being reoffered as a 2 unit course, to meet from 10 to 12 on Wednesdays. This course offers an exam or paper option.

The course description, as modified for the 2 unit format, follows:

This is a course on the structure and development of the First Amendment freedoms of speech, expression, association and the clauses with respect to religious freedom for students who want to go beyond the treatment of these subjects in our regular Constitutional Law survey course (Con Law II). Prior enrollment in Con Law I and II is preferred.

In addition, the course aims to provide the student with an opportunity to deepen and supplement case reading and constitutional argument skills, to place decisions in social and historical context and to study the attorney's professional role in current controversies about those personal and political issues to which First Amendment jurisprudence is relevant.

 This is still a survey course with respect to First Amendment topics; it does not pretend to cover all available material on these subjects. This is a paper/exam option course. Please note that students who own Lockhart, Kamisar, et al., CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (8th ed., 1997 Supp.) will find that that casebook works for the purposes of this course. Shiffrin & Choper, THE FIRST AMENDMENT (2d ed.) hardly differs from the treatment of the First Amendment material (pp. 614-1147) in the larger book. 1998 cases and other reading will be made available when necessary.