School of Arts and Sciences 2016-17
COURSE
SYLLABUS
Course Number POL
335 |
Course
Title American
Constitutional Law I |
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Fall Semester
X |
Spring
Semester |
Summer
Semester |
Credit
Hours |
|
Name
of Instructor William Miller |
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Meeting
Day, Time, and Room Number |
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Final
Exam Day, Time, and Room Number Friday, December 16, 2016; 3:00pm; Butler
132
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Office
Hours, Location, Phone Tuesdays &
Fridays, 1:00-2:00 and 3:30-4:00pm; Wednesdays and other times by
appointment. Ireton, G107, (703) 284-1687. Always email ahead of time! |
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E-mail and Web Site wmiller@marymount.edu Email is always
the best way to reach me! millerpolitics.com All announcements and assignments
are posted on this web site, not on Canvas. |
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Course
Description The course is an
introduction to the federal judiciary in American government and a survey of
the principal decisions of constitutional law that have influenced the
development of the American polity. |
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UNIVERSITY
STATEMENTS
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
By accepting this
syllabus, you pledge to uphold the principles of Academic Integrity expressed
by the Marymount University Community. You agree to observe these principles
yourself and to defend them against abuse by others. Items submitted for this course may be submitted to TurnItIn.com for
analysis.
STUDENT COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
For
the benefit of current and future students, work in this course may be used for
educational critique, demonstrations, samples, presentations, and
verification. Outside of these uses,
work shall not be sold, copied, broadcast, or distributed for profit without
student consent.
ACCOMMODATIONS AND
ACCESSIBILITY CONCERNS
Please address any special challenges or needs with the instructor at
the beginning of the semester. Students seeking accommodations for a disability
must complete the required steps for obtaining a Faculty Contact Sheet from the
Office of Student Access Services (SAS). Students are then responsible for
meeting with their instructors at the beginning of the semester to review and
sign the Faculty Contact Sheet and develop a specific plan for providing the
accommodations listed. Accommodations cannot be granted to students who fail
to follow this process. Appointments with the SAS director can be scheduled
through the Starfish "Success Network" tab in Canvas. For more
information, check the SAS website, e-mail access@marymount.edu, or call 703-284-1538 to reach the SAS
director or an academic support coordinator.
EMERGENCY
NOTIFICATION POLICY
When
students are absent due to a crisis situation or unexpected, serious illness
and unable to contact their individual instructors directly, the Division of
Student Affairs can send out an Emergency Notification. To initiate an
Emergency Notification, students should contact the Division of Student Affairs 703-284-1615 or studentaffairs@marymount.edu. Emergency
Notifications are NOT appropriate for non-emergency situations (e.g. car
problems, planned absences, minor illnesses, or a past absence); are NOT
a request or mandate to excuse an absence, which is at the sole discretion of
the instructor; and are NOT a requirement for student absences. If a
student contacts instructors about an emergency situation directly, it is not
necessary to involve the Division of Student Affairs as arrangements are made
to resolve the absence.
For
non-emergency absences, students should inform
their instructors directly.
ACCESS TO STUDENT WORK
Copies of your work
in this course, including copies of any submitted papers and your portfolios, may be kept on file for institutional research,
assessment, and accreditation purposes. All work used for these purposes will
be submitted anonymously.
UNIVERSITY POLICY ON WEATHER AND EMERGENCY
CLOSINGS
Weather
and Emergency closings are announced on Marymount’s web site: www.marymount.edu, through MUAlerts, area radio stations, and TV
stations. You may also call the Weather
and Emergency Hotline at (703) 526-6888 for current status. Unless
otherwise advised by local media or by official bulletins listed above,
students are expected to report for class as near normal time as possible on
days when weather conditions are adverse. Decisions as to inclement closing or
delayed opening are not generally made before 6:00 AM and by 3:00 PM for evening classes
of the working day. Emergency closing could occur at any time making MUAlerts the most timely announcement
mechanism. Students are expected to
attend class if the University is not officially closed. If the University
is closed, course content and assignments
will still be covered as directed by the course instructor. Please look for
communication from the course instructor (e.g., Canvas) for information on
course work during periods in which the University is closed.
1. BROAD PURPOSE OF COURSE
The course is an
introduction to the federal judiciary in American government and a survey of
the principal decisions of constitutional law that have influenced the
development of the American polity. More specifically, the course will:
(1) introduce
students to the American court and legal systems and, in particular, to the
role of the Supreme Court in the American scheme of government, and
(2) study court
opinions that have interpreted the provisions of the United States Constitution
that allocate power among the three branches of the federal government and
between the federal and state governments.
2. COURSE
OBJECTIVES: Upon successful completion of this course
students will be expected to:
1.
to be able to demonstrate
orally and in written tests a basic understanding of the English roots, the
structure, and the functions of the American legal systems as they developed
over the past two centuries;
2.
to demonstrate orally and
in written tests familiarity with the broad outlines of the legal process as it
applies to the federal courts today;
3.
to be able to identify,
locate, and cite authoritative legal sources;
4.
to be able to reason
critically about the issues, the holdings, and the rationales of court
decisions and to practice the writing and oral presentation of legal
arguments;
5.
to demonstrate orally and
in written tests familiarity with the doctrine of separation of powers and the
principal constitutional powers of the Congress, the President, and the federal
judiciary; and,
6.
to
demonstrate orally and in written tests familiarity with the principle of
American federalism and with the principal Supreme Court opinions interpreting
(1) the powers, and in particular the Commerce Clause power, assigned by the Constitution
to the national government and (2) the police power of the states.
3. TEACHING
METHOD
Lectures by the instructor and briefing and
discussion of court opinions by the students.
4. GRADING POLICY
Friday, September
30, 2016, is the last day to withdraw from a class without
academic record.
Friday, November 4, 2016, is the last
day to withdraw from a class with a grade of W.
The
final grade will be based upon three examinations and class participation, as
follows:
20%
= Lower mid-term exam grade
30%
= Higher mid-term exam grade
35%
= Final exam grade
15% = Class assignments (which include answering
questions in class and participating in class discussions), quizzes, briefs,
written assignments
The
usual scale of 90-100%=A, 80-89%=B, 70-79%=C, 60-69%=D, and 59% and below=F
will be used for all graded work.
ATTENDANCE
AND MAKE-UP EXAM POLICY
Attendance: Beginning
with the second week of classes, students are allowed a total of nine absences,
excused and/or unexcused. Students who miss ten or more classes for any reason
will receive an “F” in the course.
Each unexcused absence beyond three—up to the
absolute limit of nine—will result in a lowering of the final grade by one
percentage point. To be excused, an
absence must be documented, unless I indicate otherwise. Excused absences are
typically medical-, legal-, or job-related excuses. Acceptable documentation
typically consists of a statement or form on official stationery (1) signed by
a third party (doctor, police, judge, supervisor) that (2) refers specifically
to the day of absence from class and (3) the reason for the absence. Travel
plans will never excuse an absence.
Occasionally coming to
class late—even really late once or twice—is not considered an absence. Coming to class without hard copies of the text for the day,
leaving the classroom for most of the class-time, or leaving class early
without the prior permission of the instructor, however, is considered an unexcused
absence.
Merely informing me
ahead of time that you will be absent from class does not mean I excuse the
absence, though I appreciate your courtesy. I will not excuse your absence
because you are simply not feeling well or because you choose to do something
worthwhile other than come to class even if you inform me ahead of time. If you
are coughing and sneezing and coming down with a cold or the flu, and you don't
want to spread your virus to your classmates, your fellow students and I salute
you! Staying home may be the right thing to do, but it is not an excused
absence. You all get three unexcused absences to use as you see fit, and it is
your decision to use them to stay home when you don't feel well or want to
attend some other event or need to prepare for another class instead of going
to my class. Use them for good reasons: that's what they are for.
The limit of nine total
absences recognizes that excessive excused
absences may also be a problem. You should discuss such situations with me
well before the last month of the semester. This is not a distance learning
class. Any absence prevents you from participating in the class, but if your
job or an illness keeps you away from class, it will significantly affect the
class participation component of your grade and may be a good reason to drop
the course and take it another time. All of us find ourselves in these
situations from time to time and have to deal with them appropriately. You also
have an obligation to report this to a University office (see the section
titled “Attendance” in the University Catalogue).
When in doubt about any
of these policies, please come and talk to me. They have been formulated with
our substantial commuter and working student population in mind and are
intended to be fair to everyone. You should also review the University's
policies on absenteeism in the section titled “Attendance” in the University
Catalogue.
When
in doubt about any of these policies, please come and talk to me. They have
been formulated with our substantial commuter and working student population in
mind and are intended to be fair to everyone. You should also review the
University's policies on absenteeism in the section on “Attendance” of the
University Catalogue.
Make-up
Exams:
The same basic rules about excused absences apply to taking mid-terms. My
policy of giving makeup exams on the same day as the final does NOT mean that
you may choose to take the mid-term exam on that day rather than on the
regularly scheduled day: it is not an alternative test date. To be eligible for
a makeup, you must qualify for an excused absence, and this you should do a
reasonable time before the day of the mid-term, if that is at all possible. You
may be excused from taking a mid-term if you are certifiably sick or your job
prevents you from attending class or you have a legal, family, or personal
emergency on the day of the test. If one of these applies, and I am informed in
a reasonable time before the exam, and you have written documentation to
support your request, you may take the exam on the same day as the final exam. If
none of these reasons apply, you may not take the exam at another time, and you
will get a zero for the exam. Travel plans will never excuse an absence. If
you are late for the exam because of events outside of your control, let me
know immediately or as soon as possible that
day, and I will let you take the exam later that same day if possible.
5. CLASS
SCHEDULE
As stated, this schedule
is approximate.
The specific cases to be assigned in the course will be announced in class and
posted on my website under "Weekly Assignments—Constitutional Law I (Fall
2016)." For any cases assigned,
you might also read the commentary in the Nowak and Rotunda hornbook.
Always use the edited versions on the "Constitutional Law Case List"
link; usually, you will not have to read the whole opinion.
WEEK
I (8/30-9/2)
Introduction
to the course; to finding and citing legal sources (Primer, Appendix A);
and to Supreme Court opinions (Primer,
chapter 5).
WEEK II (9/6-9) Tuesday: History of
common law courts (Primer, chapter
1)’ Jurisdiction, judicial power, justiciability (Primer, chapter 2).
WEEK
III (9/13-16)
Litigation
Process (Primer, chapter 3) and analyzing cases.
WEEK
IV (9/20-23)
State and
federal courts (Primer, chapter 4) and cases. Note: Wednesday: Constitution Day Luncheon and Address.
WEEK V (9/27-30) Tuesday: The
Supreme Court (Primer, chapter 5) and cases.
Friday, September 30,
2016, is the last day to withdraw from a class without academic record.
WEEK VI (10/4-7) Monday:
Mid-term Exam.
Friday: Cases on the Powers of
the National Government. Express and Implied Powers: McCulloch v. Maryland,
South Carolina v. Katzenbach, City of Boerne v. Flores.
WEEK
VII (10/14)
Cases on
Incidental Powers.
WEEK
VIII (10/18-21)
Cases on Privilege and Immunity and on Treaty
Powers and Executive Agreements.
WEEK
IX (10/25-28)
Cases on
War Powers and on Separation of Powers—Delegation Doctrine, Appointment, and
Removal.
WEEK
X (11/1-4) Cases
on Separation of Powers.
Friday, November 4, 2016,
is the last day to withdraw from a
class with a grade of W.
WEEK XI (11/8-11) Tuesday:
Mid-term Exam.
Friday: Cases on the Commerce Powers of the
National Government, Gibbons v. Ogden.
WEEK XII (11/15-18) Cases on the Commerce
Powers of the National Government.
WEEK
XIII (11/22)
Cases on
the Powers of the State Governments under the Commerce Clause.
WEEK
XIV (11/29-12/2)
Cases on
the Powers of the State Governments.
WEEK
XV (12/6-10)
Cases on the Powers of the State Governments.
The Final Exam will be
given only at the announced date and time prescribed by the University Final
Exam Schedule: Friday, December 16th, 3:00pm. All mid-term exam
make-ups will be given on the same day before or after the final exam. Please
make your travel plans accordingly!
6. REQUIRED
TEXT
The only text
that you absolutely must have, beginning the first week of the semester, is the
following:
Miller, William.
Primer on American
Courts. New York: Taylor and Francis, 2005.
We do not use a
constitutional law casebook. In order to do the case assignments in this course,
you will have to use handouts, the Internet, the Lawyers' Edition collection in
the library, or one of the other two sets of Supreme Court reports, all of
which are described below. Familiarity with these sources is required. The
cases that we will use are available online by clicking on the "Constitutional Law
Case List (Fall 2016)" link, which is located on my webpage under the Weekly Assignments
subheading. You will also need a three-hole paper punch and several three-ring
binders to hold the copies of court opinions that you download and that are
handed out.
Strongly Recommended:
Nowak, John E.,
and Ronald D. Rotunda. Constitutional Law. (most recent ed.) St. Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing Co.
The United States Constitution Annotated,
prepared by the Congressional Research Service of the United States Library of
Congress, is also available at United States
Constitution Annotated.
The opinions of the Supreme Court and other
courts can be found on the Internet on a number of different sites. Three free
sites that I suggest you use are (1) supreme.justia.com,
(2) Findlaw.com,
and (3) LexisNexis Academic. LexisOne, which is another site
that is useful for this course, is more restricted for legal research. The
LexisNexis site is offered through your Marymount library ALADIN site. Go to
"ALADIN Databases," then "All Marymount Databases," then
find "LexisNexis Academic." Information about finding cases on
Findlaw.com and Supreme Justia is contained in the Primer on American Courts and on the “Constitutional Law Case List
(Fall 2016)” link. We will also
explain how to access them in class. You will need to use these sites early in
the semester;
A FEW FURTHER RULES
For the benefit of the class and your classmates,
the following rules regarding electronic devices also apply to this course:
1. Turn your cell phones off during the class. If you are expecting an
important call, put your phone on “Vibrate,” sit near the door, and, when the
call comes, answer it outside the classroom.
2. It follows from the foregoing rule, but it
must be separately stated: no talking and no texting on cell phones during
class. If you do not follow this rule, I will publicly ask you to leave the
room for the remainder of the class (an unexcused absence) and will do my best
to have you removed from the course for the rest of the semester.
3. No open lap-top or other computers are
allowed in class without my prior permission. Devices such as tablets,
Ipads, Kindles, Kobos, and Nooks that lie flat on the desk and on to which the
readings can be loaded are permitted if approved by me, but hard copies of the
readings are better. You can mark them up and take notes on them in class.
4. Be sure to check your Marymount email
address regularly! This is Marymount’s and my principal way of
contacting you with important information. Perhaps you rely mostly on Yahoo,
gmail, or some other provider, but check your @marymount.edu mail daily to make
sure you do not miss school information.
These rules are
necessary to foster a suitable learning environment in the classroom during
class. There are enough distractions with lawnmowers, air conditioners, and
other outside forces to combat during lectures and discussions without these
controllable distractions within the room.