POL 116B: Civil Liberties in America Fall 2016 Room: Schiffman 216 T, Th, 2:00-3:20 PM

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1 POL 116B: Civil Liberties in America Fall 2016 Room: Schiffman 216 T, Th, 2:00-3:20 PM Professor Jeffrey Lenowitz Olin-Sang 206 Office Hours: Thursdays, 3:30 5:30 [and by appointment] Course Description: This course focuses on the theory, as well as the history and politics, of civil liberties and civil rights in the United States. This is a broad topic, so we will narrow it by focusing on the following: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, affirmative action, voting rights, the rights of prisoners, and civil liberties and the police. For each of these issue areas we will explore the underlying liberties and rights, question their meaning and justification, and see how Supreme Court Justices as well as scholars have debated them. Our driving questions will be: what are the rights and liberties in question? How and why are they protected? Should they be protected? What happens when they clash with other rights and liberties? Objectives & Learning Goals The goals of this course are many. Four of them are as follows: 1. To gain general competence in the subject matter and material covered in the course. 2. To further develop and sharpen critical thinking skills, which leads one to better comprehend complex texts, evaluate claims, and formulate powerful oral and written arguments. 3. To become exposed to a variety of political science and other discipline s methods and perspectives and to see how they can work together to give us a more comprehensive understanding of a topic. 4. To give you the tools to become more active, knowledgeable, and critical democratic citizens; to shake up how you conceptualize and understand the rights and liberties you hold. 1

2 Requirements and Grading: Attendance is mandatory unless accompanied by a legitimate explanation given ahead of time. However, attendance is not enough. Students are expected to complete all assigned readings in accordance with the class schedule and to be prepared to discuss them in depth. This course combines lectures with some vigorous discussion, none of which will be useful unless all material is read before class. To ensure participation I will do the following: Cold calling and Volunteering: I will randomly call on students and look for volunteers to answer questions and discuss the assigned material Reading Responses/Pop Quiz: I will randomly assign reading responses in class on Tuesday to be due on Thursday. These will be 500 word max papers on the week s reading that either respond to a given question or simply discuss something in the reading that you find interesting. I will collect these randomly as well. In total, four reading responses will be collected. One of these might be substituted with a pop quiz. Note that this is Four-Credit Course with three hours of class-time per week. This means that success is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, papers, exam preparation, etc.). The breakdown of the grading is as follows: - Participation, 15%. This includes classroom involvement and attendance. - Reading Responses, 15%. Discussed above - 1 paper (7-9 pages), 20%: This paper will be a response to one of three questions given out in class. The paper will be graded based on grammar, writing style, argumentative force, and knowledge of material. Due: November Mid-term, 20%: This will be take-home exam, to be due on October 20. It will consist of a set of short answer questions. - Final exam, 30%: This will be an in-class final exam consisting of passage identification, short answers, and a long essay. It will take place at the assigned time for our final exam. * Please note that if you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately. 2

3 Academic Integrity: All students are expected to be familiar with and to follow the University s policies on academic integrity (see Faculty may refer any suspected instances of alleged dishonesty to the Office of Student Development and Conduct. Instances of academic dishonesty may result in sanctions including but not limited to, failing grades being issued, educational programs, and other consequences. Technology Policy: No phones or computers should be visible during the class. Checking either of them will result in a reduced participation grade. However, if there are exceptional circumstances that require you to use a computer, come talk to me and we can see about the possibility of an exception. Late Assignment Policy: Late assignments, defined as any assignment turned in more than 15 minutes after the deadline without prior notification, will be downgraded one grade step (i.e. a B+ would automatically become a B). After this, a further grade step will be lost for every day that an assignment is late. For example, a B paper due on Friday but handed in on Monday will receive a C-. Papers submitted more than four days after the due date will not be accepted. Texts Available for Purchase: The following books are or will be available for purchase at the University bookstore. They can also easily be purchased online. All other readings will be available via Latte. Brettschneider, Corey. Civil Rights and Liberties. New York: Wolters Kluwer, [CRAL] Sterba, James P. Affirmative Action for the Future. New York: Cornell University Press, Class Schedule * Any changes to schedule will be communicated in class or through class Introduction (Thursday, August 25) 2. Rights and Liberties, Bill of Rights (Tuesday, August 30) CRAL, XXV-LVIII 3

4 Jean Jacques Rousseau, Social Contract, Book I, Chapters 6 8 (Latte) CRAL, 1-7, 25-26, 49-58, ****Class Cancelled for September 1***** FREEDOM OF SPEECH 3. Political Speech: Theory (Tuesday, September 6) CRAL, Joel Feinberg, Limits to the Free Expression of Opinion (Latte) 4. Political Speech: Cases (Tuesday, September 13) CRAL, Jan-Werner Müller, Militant Democracy, In the The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Law, edited by Michel Rosenfeld and András Sajó. 5. Obscenity, Pornography, Hate Speech: Theory (Thursday, September 15) CRAL, Schauer, Frederick, Free Speech: A Philosophical Enquiry, (Latte) 6. Obscenity, Pornography, Hate Speech: Cases (Tuesday, September 20) CRAL, Freedom of Speech: Campaign Finance (Thursday, September 22) CRAL, Arizona Free Enterprise v. Bennett McConnell v Federal Election Commission FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life WHY LEGAL RIGHTS? 8. Rights, Legal Rights, Participation (Tuesday, September 27) ( Jeremy Waldron, Law and Disagreement,

5 RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS 9. Religion, Free Exercise and Treatment: Theory (Thursday, September 29) CRAL, Religion, Free Exercise and Treatment: Cases (Thursday, October 6) CRAL Establishment, Public Funding, and Prayer: Theory (Tuesday, October 11) CRAL, Establishment, Public Funding, and Prayer: Cases (Thursday, October 13) CRAL, AFFIRMATIVE ACTION 13. Some Theory, Some Cases (Tuesday, October 18) CRAL, James P. Sterba, Affirmative Action for the Future, p Grutter, Gratz, and Friends (Thursday, October 20) CRAL, Carl Cohen, The Corruption That Is Group Preference, Academic Questions, Summer 1998, More Theory (Thursday, October 27) James P. Sterba, Affirmative Action for the Future, More Cases, More Objection (Tuesday, November 1) Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action Fisher v. University of Texas Leonhardt, David, The Liberals Against Affirmative Action, The New York Times, March 9,

6 Sacks, David & Peter Thiel, The Case Against Affirmative Action, Stanford Alumni Magazine. VOTING RIGHTS 17. Discrimination: Cases and Theories (Thursday, November 3) CRAL, Discrimination: Recent Developments (Tuesday, November 8) Shelby County v. Holder National Commission on Voting Rights, Protecting Minority Voters: Our Work is Not Done, 6 21, 40 67, Voting Rights for Prisoners and Ex-Felons (Thursday, November 10) Richard v. Ramirez NCSL Felon Voting Rights Summary Manza, Jeff and Christopher Uggen, Punishment and Democracy: Disenfranchisement of Nonincarnerated Felons in the United States, Perspectives on Politics, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2004 PRISONER RIGHTS 20. Religious Rights in Prison (Tuesday, November 15) Turner v. Safely, OLone v. Estate of Shabazz Religions Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 City of Boerne v. Flores Ochs v. Thalacker Holt v. Hobbs 21. Other Rights in Prison (Thursday, November 17) Hudson v. Palmer 6

7 Procuiner v. Martinez Block v. Rutherford Estelle v. Gamble Wilson v. Seiter Helling v. McKinney CIVIL LIBERTIES & THE POLICE 22. Policing and Surveillance (Tuesday, November 22) David M. O Brien, Constitutional Law and Politics, V.2, Clapper v. Amnesty International USA Selected theoretical readings 23. Policing and the Use of Force 1 (Thursday, November 29) Graham v. Connor Tennessee v. Garner 24. Policing and the Use of Force 2 (Thursday, December 1) Scott v. Harris City and Country of San Francisco v. Sheehan Matt Apuzzo and Adam Liptak, At Supreme Court, Eric Holder s Justice Dept Routinely Backs Officers Use of Force, The New York Times, April 21, Policing and Discrimination (Tuesday, December 6) Whren V. United States United States v. Brignoni-Ponce Brown v. Onepnta US v Armstrong Kevin R. Johnson, How Racial Profiling in America Became the Law of the Land, The Georgetown Law Journal 98: