Spring 2003
Professor Orentlicher
Text: Stone, Seidman, Sunstein and Tushnet, Constitutional Law (4th ed., Aspen Law and Business 2001 and 2002 Supplement). (You may also find it helpful to consult J.W. Peltason and Sue Davis, Corwin & Peltason's Understanding the Constitution (15th ed., Wadsworth 2000) or the two-volume Christopher N. May and Allan Ides, Constitutional Law: Examples & Explanations (2d ed., Aspen Law and Business 2001) as optional texts. The optional texts are on reserve in the law school library, although earlier editions may be on reserve until the current editions arrive in the library.)Grading: Your grade will be based primarily on a closed book, final examination in class, which is scheduled for Monday, April 28, 5:30 pm. If you would like to get a sense of the kind of exam I give, there are copies of previous Constitutional Law and Fourteenth Amendment exams on reserve in the library. Class participation is an important part of the class, both to enhance your learning and that of your classmates. As long as the amount and quality of your participation fall within a reasonable range, it will not affect your grade. Unusually good or poor participation can raise or lower your grade, respectively.
Class Participation and Attendance: As indicated by my grading policy, attendance and participation are an important part of this course. To encourage attendance and participation, I will call on students during the class periods, in addition to relying on voluntary participation.
Office Hours: I do not have formal office hours, but I welcome students to come by at their convenience. I also welcome advance appointments to ensure that I will be in the office when you come by. My office is in Room 134, and my phone number is 274-4993. You can also contact me by e-mail with any questions, at dorentli@iupui.edu. My faculty assistant is Faith Knotts, Room 325, 274-1913, falong@iupui.edu.
Scheduling: We will ordinarily meet on Mondays and Wednesdays, 5:30-7:29 pm, Room 300.
Assignments
Almost all of the readings are from the Stone casebook and supplement, with the supplement assignments indicated by an "S" before the page number. The supplement pages in parentheses are from the 2002 edition of the supplement. On occasion, I may have handouts to supplement the casebook. Please note that, on some dates, there are assignments for more than one topic.
I have included a good deal of material in this syllabus. It is therefore important that you keep up with the reading assignments. As we proceed through the assignments, we may need more time than I have allotted for some of the topics. If that is the case, I will make adjustments in the assignments and that may mean that we will not cover everything in the syllabus. You should not be concerned since even if we end up skipping some of the material, we will still cover more material than is usually covered in this course.
A. The Role of the Supreme Court
1. Introduction and the Basic Framework (Jan. 13)
pp. 1-20, 27 (¶ beginning "The question, whether an act,")-31 (end of note 1), 32 (note 2.d)-45, 51-55
2. Sources of Judicial Decisions and Political Control of the Court (Jan. 15)
pp. 55-72, 685-692, 72-84
B. Powers of Congress
1. Evolution of Commerce Clause Doctrine (Jan. 22, Jan. 27)
pp. 137-169, 173 (skip notes 2 and 4)-175 (Jan. 22)
pp. 175-186 (Jan. 27, first hour)2. Commerce Clause Today (Jan. 27, 29)
pp. 186-203 (Jan. 27, second hour, Jan. 29, first hour)
Applying Lopez (Jan. 29, second hour)3. Implied Limits on Congressional Power (Feb. 3)
pp. 233-256
C. Judicial Protection of the National Market from State Action
1. Protection Against Discrimination--Facial Discrimination (Feb. 5)
pp. 257-295
2. Protecting Against Discrimination--Disparate Impact (Feb. 7)
pp. 295-329
D. Distribution of National Powers
Legislative Authority (Feb. 12, 14)
pp. 331-336, 364-387 pp. 364-387 (Feb. 12)
pp. 387-402 (Feb. 14)E. Equal Protection
1. Rational Basis Review (Feb. 19)
pp. 474-499
2. Disparate Treatment and Disparate Impact (Feb. 21)
pp. 499-514 and 514-532 (end of ¶1), S51-S54
3. "Separate but Equal" and Desegregation (Feb. 26, first hour)
pp. 431-442, 444-456
4. Integration - Marriage, Schools (Feb. 26, second hour)
pp. 533-543
5. Affirmative Action - Employment, Education (Mar. 3, 5)
pp. 553-596 (Mar. 3)
Hand-out (Mar. 5, first hour)
pp. 596-610 (Mar. 5, second hour)
pp. 610-638, S59-S64 (Oct. 26)7. Sexual Orientation (Mar. 19)
638-657, Able v. U.S.
8. Voting (Mar. 24)
F. Substantive Due Process
1. Historical Background, Privileges or Immunities, Incorporation (Mar. 26, first hour)
pp. 508-509 (through end of note 2); pp. 795-804, Saenz v. Roe, pp. 804-813
2. Economic Substantive Due Process (Mar. 26, second hour, Mar. 31, first hour)
pp. 813-831 (until Nebbia) (Nov. 7, second hour)
pp. 831-842 (Nov. 9, first hour)3. Privacy - Its Sources, Contraception (Mar. 31, second hour)
pp. 940-955
4. Privacy - Abortion (Apr. 2)
pp. 955-974, 988 (last ¶)-1016, addendum for p.991, S228-S242
5. Privacy - Family, Sexual Autonomy (Apr. 7)
pp. 1017-1021 (through end of ¶ 4); pp. 1025-1027 (¶¶ 5,6 through end of Flores); pp. 1029-1039; S243-S244 (S204-205)
G. State Action (Apr. 9)
pp. 1693-1694, 1701-1737
H. Limits on Justiciability
1. Case or Controversy--Advisory Opinions, Standing (Apr. 14)
pp. 88-98, S3-S7 (S3-S7) (majority opinion only), 98-121, S10-S13 (S10-S12), S22-S33 (S22-S33) (Akins)
2. Case or Controversy--Political Questions (Apr. 16)
pp. 121-146, S33-34 (S33)
Original: 2 Sep 1998 M.R. Deer - Law School
Updated: 9 Jan 2003 D. Orentlicher - Law School
Comments: dorentli@iupui.eduURL: http://www.indylaw.indiana.edu/Instructors/Orentlicher/constsyl.htm