Politics 3820: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties    
University of Virginia, Fall, 2015    
Mr. Todd    
Office: Prof. O'Brien's Office, Gibson S164
Ph: O: 924-4324; H: (434)973-8178; cell: (520)299-1328;  e-mail: jst3u@virginia.edu
Office Hours: Mon., Wed., and Fri. 11:00-11:30, Rouss lobby; Friday 2:00-4:00 Gibson S164, or by appointment. I will also usually be available after class Monday and Wednesday.

Course Description: This course is a survey of those provisions of the United States Constitution that concern the rights, privileges and obligations of individuals as they have been interpreted over the years by the Supreme Court of the United States. (Although the focus of the course is the U.S. Supreme Court, students should be aware that a number of state high courts provide more protection for civil liberties.) The course is taught by the Socratic method, and heavy emphasis is placed on helping students improve their analytical skills and their speaking and writing abilities.

Course Requirements: Texts: There is a required casebook, Constitutional Law and Politics, Vol. II, Civil Rights and Liberties, Ninth Edition, by David M. O'Brien. Prof. O'Brien's Supreme Court Watch should be available sometime in September and will bring his 2013 textbook up to date with the most recent Supreme Court decisions.
    Examinations: There will be a 75-minute mid-term exam and a three-hour final exam.  You must bring blue books to both,  (they will be essay exams).  Blue books with pages torn out will not be accepted. Please note that the final exam is scheduled for Monday, December 14th, from 2:00-5:00. No one will be permitted to take the exam early.
    Paper: You will be assigned a pending case from the docket of the United States Supreme Court and required to submit a majority opinion in the case (12 pages maximum total length, 10 pages minimum). Success in the study and practice of law, and in many other professions as well, is determined to a great extent by how hard an individual works and how much attention she or he pays to detail.  Thus, "A" papers will be ones that are thoroughly researched, carefully written, and correctly cited. It is important, therefore, that you get started early on your paper and work on it gradually as the semester progresses.
    Attendance: Because of the difficulty of the course, you are encouraged to AVOID MISSING CLASS.  Students with excessive absences will be penalized in that portion of their grade representing class work.
    Briefing Cases: You will be expected to come to class with an understanding of the facts, issues, and reasoning involved in cases assigned for that class. You are not required to prepare written briefs for each case listed, but the more cases you can "brief" the more you will get out of the class in terms of preparation for law school.
    Class Participation: Fully one-fourth of your grade will be based on class participation.  There are three components to that participation: how well prepared you are throughout the semester, how well you respond to questions about cases and issues during class, and how much of a contribution you make to class discussions.

Grading: Final grades in the course will be determined on the following basis: mid-term exam, 20%; paper, 25%; classwork, 25%; and final exam, 30%.
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Schedule of Topics and Readings:

Aug. 26 Introduction to the course

Aug. 31 and Sept. 2: the Politics of Constitutional Interpretation
    pp. 23-40, 68-138, and 190-222.

Sept. 7:  The Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment, pp. 331-347
    347-349, Barron v. Baltimore
    284-288, The Slaughterhouse Cases
    349-354 Hurtado v. California
    354-357, Palko v. Connecticut
    381-406, McDonald v. City of Chicago

Procedural Due Process

Sept. 9: Search and Seizure, pp. 898-908 and 920-931
    932-936, Terry v. Ohio
    940-942, Illinois v. Wardlow
    942-944, Bond v. U.S.
    944-948, Minnesota v. Dickerson
    948-953, Kentucky v. King et seq.

 Sept. 14: Special problems of automobiles, pp. 954-962
    962-965, Illinois v. Lidster
    965-971, California v. Acevedo
    971-976, Atwater v. Lago Vista

Sept. 16: Other searches, pp. 976-984
    Opt'l: New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325 (1985)
    985-990, Nat'l Treasury Employees Union v. Von Raab
    990-994, Veronica School Dist. 47J v. Acton
    994-998, Bd. of Ed. of Ind. School Dist. No. 92 v. Earls
    998-1003, Safford Unified School Dist. No. 1 v. Redding

Sept. 21: Wiretapping, Bugging, and Police Surveillance, 1003-1011
    1012-1015, Olmstead v. U.S.
    1016-1020, Katz v. U.S.
    1020-1023. California v. Ciraolo
    1024-1028, Kyllo v. U.S.
    1028-1042, U.S. v. Jones, et seq.
    
Sept. 23: The Exclusionary Rule, 1043-1049
    1050-1057, Mapp v. Ohio
    1057-1062, Nix v. Williams
    1062-1072, U.S. v. Leon and Massachusetts v. Sheppard
    1072-1077, Herring v. U.S.
    1077-1082, Davis v. U.S.

Sept. 28: Rights of the Accused, pp. 1083-1102
    1103-1114, Miranda v. Arizona
    1114-1117, In re Gault
    1125-1129, Arizona v. Fulminante
    Opt'l: Withrow v. Williams (1993)
    1129-1134, Dickerson v. U.S.
    Optional: pp. 1134-1148

Sept: 30: The Right to Counsel, 1158-1164
    1165-1167, Powell v. Alabama
    1167-1171, Gideon v. Wainwright
    Cruel and Unusual Punishment, 1231-1239
    1239-1243, Ewing v. California
    
Oct. 5: No class; reading days

Oct. 7: Capital Punishment, pp. 1243-1256
    1256-1267, Furman v. Georgia
    1272-1283, McCleskey v. Kemp
    1283-1287, Payne v. Tennessee
    1287-1292, Atkins v. Virginia
    1292-1311, Roper v. Simmons, et seq.

The First Amendment

Oct. 12: Freedom of Expression, pp. 444-463
    463-465, Schenck v. U.S.
     465-470, Gitlow v. New York
    470-481, Dennis v. U.S.
    481-484, Brandenburg v. Ohio
    Judicial Line Drawing, pp. 484-490

Oct. 14: Symbolic Speech, pp. 680-684
    684-692, West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette
    692-697, Tinker v. Des Moines Ind. Community School Dist.
    697-702, Morse v. Frederick
    702-709, Texas v. Johnson

Oct. 19: Mid-term Examination   
 

Oct. 21: Freedom of the Press and Prior Restraint, pp. 634-639
    639-642, Near v. Minnesota ex rel. Olson
    642-650, New York Times Co. v. U.S.
    Optional: Hazelwood School Dist. v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260 (1988)

Oct. 26: Fighting Words and Offensive Speech, 532-540
540-544, Cohen v. California
544-549, F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation
549-554, Bethel School Dist. v. Fraser
554-562, R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul
562-565, Wisconsin v. Mitchell et seq.
565-572, Virginia v. Black
572-583, Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association

Oct. 28: Obscenity and Pornography, 490-498
498-502, Roth v. U.S.
    502-504, Stanley v. Georgia
    504-509, Miller v. California
    509-512, New York v. Ferber
    512-518, City of Erie v. Pap's A.M.
    519-527, Reno v. A.C.L.U
    527-532, Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition
    667-673, U.S. v. Williams

Nov. 2 and 4: Freedom of Religion: The Establishment Clause, 737-768
    768-775, Everson v. Bd. of Education of Ewing Township
    775-780, Engel v. Vitale
    780-785, Abington School Dist. v. Schempp
    785-791, Lemon v. Kurtzman
    791-800, Wallace v. Jaffre
    801-806, Lee v. Weisman
    806-809, Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District
    809-818, Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors. of the University of
        Virginia
    819-824, Agostini v. Felton     
    824-832, Zelman v. Simmons-Harris  
    Optional: Good News Club v. Milford Central School (2001)

Nov. 9: Freedom of Religion: The Free Exercise Clause, 848-857
    856-863, Sherbert v. Verner et seq.
    864-867, Wisconsin v. Yoder
    867-875, Employment Div., D.H.R. of Oregon v. Smith
    875-881, Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. Hialeah
    882-890, City of Boerne v. Flores
    890-897, Locke v. Davey, et seq.

The Right to Privacy

Nov. 11: Reproductive Freedom, 1312-1328
    365-376, Griswold v. Connecticut
    1334-1354, Roe v. Wade, et seq.
    1354-1366, Planned Parenthood of S.E. Pennsylvania v. Casey
    1366-1374, Gonzales v. Carhart

Nov. 16 and 18: Personal Autonomy: Gay Rights; 1374-1383
    Optional:  Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)
    1384-1395, Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
    Discrimination against glbt citizens
    1616-1626, Romer v. Evans
    1627-1637, U.S. v. Windsor, et seq.
    Obergefel v. Hodges (2015)
    The right to die
    1395-1402, Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health
    1402-1411, Washington v. Glucksberg   
        
Equal Protection of the Law

Nov. 23: Racial Discrimination, pp. 1423-1438 and 1465-1481
    1438-1450, Dred Scott v. Sandford
    1450-1457, The Civil Rights Cases
    1457-1462, Plessy v. Ferguson
    Racial Discrimination in Education, 1382-1395
    1481-1492, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka et seq.
    1492-1493, Bolling v. Sharpe
    1493-1497, Brown v. Board II

Nov. 30: Power of Courts to Enforce Decisions
    1497-1502, Cooper v. Aaron
    1502-1507, Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenberg Board of Education
    1507-1511, Milliken v. Bradley
    1511-1515, Freeman v. Pitts
    1515-1530, Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School Dist. No 1
    1553-1560, San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez

Dec. 2: Gender Discrimination, 1582-1590
    1590-1594, Frontiero v. Richardson
    1594-1598, Craig v. Boren
    1598-1602, Michael M. v. Superior Court of Sonoma County
    726-728, Roberts v. U.S. Jaycees
    1602-1613, United  States v. Virginia

Dec. 7 : Affirmative Action, 1530-1539
    1539-1547, Regents of the Univ. of California v. Bakke et seq.
    1547-1561, City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson
    1561-1569, Adarand Constructors v. Pena
    1569-1582 Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger
    TERM PAPERS DUE  at 3:30 p.m

Dec. 14 (Monday 2:00-5:00): Final Examination