Course Catalog

HIS377E History of Constitutional Issues: Civil Rights and Liberties (3 credits) 9589

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Focus is on the Bill of Rights and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Considers such topics as freedoms of speech, press and religion, the civil rights movement and the controversy over privacy rights.

LEARNING RESULTS
The learner will be able to:
• Describe the rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights
• Trace the history of the "incorporation" of the Bill of Rights
• Discuss the evolution of rights talk as presented in Haskell's text
• Trace the history of the 14th Amendment in American jurisprudence
• List key court cases critical for understanding of US Constitutional development
• Summarize history if the concept of "privacy" in the twentieth century
• Discuss the importance of Brown v Board of Education on American jurisprudence
• Demonstrate an understanding of the legal research process

REQUIRED TEXTS AND MATERIALS
O’Brien, David. American Constitutional Law and Politics: Vol II, 6th ed. civil rights and civil liberties. Houghton-Mifflin, 2006.

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INTEGRATION OF FAITH AND LEARNING
This course in general raises important questions related to questions of faith and learning as issues of faith and belief are natural when exploring the Constitution and Supreme Court decisions. Specific readings also raise issues of faith and learning for example, Thomas Haskell's "The Curious Persistence of Rights Talk" and Ivers "Interpreting the Constitution" address how, for modern constitutional scholars, the question of Natural Rights is dead. What does that mean for believers who profess a faith in a living God who provides these rights? Learning experience # 6 dealing with the role of religion in public life; how do post 1947 rulings in the Court affect those who believe that they are called to share their faith to the wider world; learning experience # 9 dealing with the death penalty raises profound issues that people of faith often disagree upon: the right to take a life; learning experience # 10 dealing with issues of reproductive rights and sexual preference are areas in which believers disagree both in their religious institutions and in the wider political realm; learning experience # 12 which asks for an editorial cartoon may provoke a reflective thought on the role of religion in public life; and learning experiences #13, #14, and #15, which could potentially touch on specific questions of faith as related to the areas addressed above, have been designed specifically to allow students to formulate and articulate questions of faith as they deal with concrete issues.

LEARNING DOCUMENTATION AND EVALUATION
To determine if the course learning results have been attained, students document their learning by submitting the following items:
• Essay discussing Bill of Rights - 25 points
• Essay on Rights Talk - 50 points
• Chart on incorporation - 25 points
• Essay on free speech - 50 points
• Essay on free press - 25 points
• Essay on religious freedom - 50 points
• Essay on searches and seizures - 50 points
• Essay on Warren Court - 50 points
• Opinion piece on Death Penalty - 25 points
• Essay on privacy rights - 50 points
• Visual organizer on equal protection - 25 points
• Editorial Cartoon - 25 points
• Essay on Bush v Gore - 50 points
• Legal Brief - 75 points
• Annotated Bibliography - 100 points
• Final Essay - 200 points
TOTAL POINTS = 875
There are 16 assignments and 0 examinations for this course.