This course covers the freedom of expression, association and religion, the right to bear arms, the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and civil rights including freedom from discrimination on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, gender and sexual identity.

Using the case study method and legal analysis, we will cover landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases on civil liberties. This is not, however, a law school class. Our focus will be on developing a broad understanding of how the cases interpreting our civil liberties work together, and the role that judicial philosophy plays in applying the review standards of strict, intermediate, and rational basis scrutiny to specific civil liberty issues. We will use a text book specifically developed for Constitutional Law classes at the undergraduate level, and we will supplement the text book readings with some additional articles that I will hand out in class. The daily reading assignments will average between 40-55 pages per 3.75 hour class session.

We will have a mid-term at the end of the second week of class, and a final. The mid-term will be worth 30% of the final grade, and the final exam will be worth 60% of the final grade. Participation in class discussion will be worth 10% of the final grade -- this class will simply not work if you are not prepared to discuss the cases in class and challenge your preconceptions and feelings about many controversial topics.