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course title: Constitutional Law

lecturer: Stephen I. Vladeck

course description

This course provides an overview of American constitutional law, with an emphasis on U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence. Topics covered include the origins and structure of the Constitution of the United States; the powers of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the federal government; the federal government's regulatory powers, such as the power to tax and spend and regulate interstate commerce; constraints on federal and state authority; and the history of the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. No prior knowledge is assumed. This course is intended to prepare a first-year law student for an exam on constitutional law.

course outline	duration
Introduction	01 : 40
Welcome	01 : 40
The Origins and Structure of the U.S. Constitution	76 : 10
The American Revolution and the Articles of Confederation	09 : 51
The Constitutional Convention, Ratification, and the Bill of Rights	14 : 32
McCulloch v. Maryland and Federal Supremacy	13 : 27
Marbury v. Madison and Judicial Review	19 : 00
The Internal and External Limits on Judicial Power	19 : 20
The Federal Government's Regulatory Powers	66 : 27
The Taxing and Spending Powers	09 : 19
The Commerce Clause I: Hammer to Darby to Heart of Atlanta Motel	12 : 52
The Commerce Clause II: The Rehnquist and Roberts Courts	14 : 55
The "Enforcement" Powers	18 : 44
Article I, § 9: Textual Limits on Congress's Power	10 : 37
Federalism as a Constraint on Federal and State Authority	48 : 29
The Tenth Amendment	15 : 37
The Eleventh Amendment	18 : 00
Federalism-Based Limits on State Authority	14 : 52
Executive Power and the Separation of Powers	77 : 56
The Structure of Article II and the Non-Prosecution Power	08 : 07
Executive Privilege and Immunity	10 : 16
Legislative Vetoes, Line-Item Vetoes, and Separation-of-Powers Formalism	10 : 51
Appointments and Removal of Inferior Officers	15 : 31
Foreign Affairs and the "Commander-in-Chief": The "Sole Organ" Debate	05 : 48
The Problem of Defeasibility: Youngstown and Interbranch Disputes	11 : 56
Executive Power in the War on Terrorism	15 : 27
The Fourteenth Amendment: Origins and Early Understanding	99 : 05
Dred Scott and the Citizenship Clause	23 : 50
The Slaughterhouse Cases and the Privileges-or-Immunities Clause	14 : 25
The Civil Rights Cases and State Action	12 : 52
Plessy and the Equal Protection Clause	20 : 08
Lochner, the Due Process Clause, and the "Revolution" of 1937	27 : 50
The Modern Fourteenth Amendment: Equal Protection	100 : 37
The Origins of "Strict" Scrutiny I: Brown v. Board of Education	16 : 27
The Origins of "Strict" Scrutiny" II: Loving v. Virginia	12 : 29
Washington v. Davis and the Intent Requirement	13 : 21
Affirmative Action and the Competing Theories of Equal Protection	18 : 57
Sex-Based Discrimination and the Road to "Intermediate" Scrutiny	21 : 52
Other Suspect Classes: Alienage and National Origin	09 : 10
Rational Basis "Plus": Cleburne, Romer, and O'Connor in Lawrence	08 : 21
The Modern Fourteenth Amendment: Due Process	92 : 55
Procedural Due Process: Goldberg to Mathews to Turner	10 : 08
Incorporating the Bill of Rights: Where, and How Much?	10 : 33
"Substantive" Due Process: Origins, Theory, and Griswold	13 : 49
Abortion I: Roe and the Trimester Framework	12 : 03
Abortion II: Casey and the "Undue Burden" Test	19 : 15
Other Implied Fundamental Rights	06 : 06
Lawrence and the Gray Area Between Equal Protection and Due Process	09 : 17
Fundamental Interests and the Welfare State	11 : 44
Conclusion	01 : 22
Recap	01 : 22

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