This course will look at a variety of contemporary and perennial
issues related to individual liberties and civil rights from the
vantage point of the U.S. judicial system.  Should flag burning be
considered free protected speech?  Does prayer in schools constitute
establishment of religion?  Should the ‘right to privacy’ protect
doctor-assisted suicide?  These are some of the more contentious
questions of individual rights that have entered the U.S. judicial
system in the form of actual cases within the past few decades.
This course will look at major Supreme Court cases such as these to
examine individual liberties and civil rights issues in two ways.
First, we will examine these cases as the historical development of
jurisprudence in the United States.  In other words, how has the
Supreme Court’s approach to the application of the Bill of Rights
changed over time?  Second, we will examine issues of individual
liberties and civil rights from a philosophical perspective.  What
justifications are used to support specific liberties?  What are the
moral foundations for rights?  These are not easy questions, and the
answers of previous generations may not necessarily still be
applicable today.

Throughout the semester, students will have the opportunity to form
their own answers to numerous real and hypothetical liberties and
rights-based issues.  Upon completing this course, students will
have a understanding of a) the Supreme Court as the main institution
of the U.S. judicial system, b) the major Supreme Court case
decisions relevant to rights-based issues, c) the changing
interpretations of the Bill of Rights, and d) the philosophical
foundations of contemporary political rights.
Please note that POLS Y304:  Constitutional Law I is NOT A
PREREQUISITE for this course.