Constitutional interpretation is a form of constitutional change: for as the language of law and authority lose and gain meaning the ways by which a polity makes sense of itself also changes. This course examines this subtle but powerful form of constitutional change from several distinct perspectives. The first perspective will evolve from your first-hand engagement with the process of "doing" constitutional interpretation. You will be asked to follow and to analyze the development of one substantive dimension of U.S. Supreme Court doctrine. Unaffected by the analytical models of others or by a priori normative arguments, you will rely primarily upon close readings of the U.S. Constitution and of the Court's opinions. After this, we will survey other perspectives in an attempt to discern the various institutional and theoretical elements that comprise and influence the process of constitutional interpretation.

Required Books:

Ely, Democracy and Distrust, Harvard, (1980)
Agresto,The Supreme Court and Constitutional Democracy, Cornell, (1984)
Wellington, Interpreting the Constitution, Yale, (1991)
Tribe and Dorf, On Reading the Constitution, Harvard, (1991)
Hirsch, A Theory of Liberty, Routledge, (1992)
MacKinnon, Feminism Unmodified, Harvard, (1987)
Glendon, Rights Talk, Free Press, (1991)

On Reserve:

U.S. Supreme Court opinions

Jan. 13 Introduction: Constitutional Interpretation as a Form of Constitutional Change
a) Doing Constitutional Interpretation or Reading the Constitutional Interpretation of Others?
b) A Cross-Institutional Model of Constitutional Change: The Principle of Representation

Jan. 20 Identifying Core Constitutional Principles

Jan. 27 From Wood v. Broom (1932) to Gomillion V. Lightfoot (1960)

Feb. 3 From Baker v. Carr (1962) to Reno v. Shaw (1993)

Feb. 10 The Mechanics of Interpretation: Common Approaches

Research Paper Due

Feb. 17 Ely, Democracy and Distrust

Feb. 24 Agresto, The Supreme Court and Constitutional Democracy

Mar. 3 Paper Due: Wellington, Interpreting the Constitution

Mar. 17 Tribe and Dorf, On Reading the Constitution

Mar. 24 Reading day

Mar. 31 Paper Due: Hirsch, A Theory of Liberty

Apr. 7 Reading day

Apr. 14 MacKinnon, Feminism Unmodified

Apr. 21 Paper Due: Glendon, Rights Talk

Apr. 28 Conclusions

Research Paper and Book Reviews

The research paper should be approximately 12-15 pages on a topic to be discussed in class. Each student also will complete three 5-page papers which summarize and critically analyze the assigned book's central themes and arguments. Due dates noted on syllabus calendar.

Grading

1st paper (12-15 pages) 33%

Book Reviews (@ 5 pages) 33%

Participation 33%

Office Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 3:00-4:30PM, or by appointment.