This seminar will examine most of the leading constitutional rulings of the Warren Court. The readings will be considerable--you should expect somewhere between 6 and 10 hours of reading per week--as I am trying to give you a wide range of angles from which to approach each of the subject matter areas we will be discussing. Readings will include: cert. memos from law clerks, briefs, conference notes, memos between the justices, excerpted opinions, newspaper reaction, letters to the justices, and law review commentary. We will also be using Lucas Powe's The Warren Court and American Politics to provide background and an overview.
There is no exam or long-paper requirement. Students are expected to attend class, do the readings, and participate in class discussion. In addition, you will be asked to write 2 short papers over the course of the semester responding to the readings. These should be in the range of 4-6 double-spaced pages. Final grades will be based half on these short papers and half on class participation.
