Constitutional Theory Professor Fleming Spring 2013 Syllabus Materials for Course I. Required Walter F. Murphy, James E. Fleming, Sotirios A. Barber & Stephen Macedo, American th Constitutional Interpretation (4 ed. 2008) ( ACI ) Robert H. Bork, The Tempting of America (1990) Ronald Dworkin, Life s Dominion (1993) John Hart Ely, Democracy and Distrust (1980) James E. Fleming, Securing Constitutional Democracy (2006) Supplemental Readings ( SR ) These books are available in the Bookstore and on reserve in the Library. SR will be available on Blackboard. The handouts distributed in class are required reading for the course. II. Recommended Sotirios A. Barber & James E. Fleming, Constitutional Interpretation (2007) Jack Balkin, Constitutional Redemption (2011) and Living Originalism (2011) James E. Fleming & Linda C. McClain, Ordered Liberty: Rights, Responsibilities, and Virtues (2013) William F. Harris II, The Interpretable Constitution (1993) Antonin Scalia, A Matter of Interpretation (1997) Cass R. Sunstein, The Partial Constitution (1993) Robin West, Progressive Constitutionalism (1994) Keith Whittington, Constitutional Interpretation (1999) & Constitutional Construction (1999) All of the recommended books are on reserve in the Library. Administrative Details Office: Room 1070A Phone: (617) 353-2942 Email: jfleming@bu.edu Fax: (617) 353-3077 Office Hours: 12:00-1:00 Thursday or by appointment Paper: you may write a 30 page seminar paper, which you may use to satisfy the School s writing requirement Final Examination: or you may write a take-home final examination Reaction Papers: you are required to write three short papers reacting to the readings; the first is due by February 7, the second by March 7, and the third by April 18
2 Assignments Assignment 1: January 17 I. THE PROBLEMS OF CONSTITUTIONAL INTERPRETATION: WHAT IS THE CONSTITUTION? WHO MAY AUTHORITATIVELY INTERPRET IT? HOW IS IT TO BE INTERPRETED? A. Introduction: What, Who, and How Interpreting a Constitution, 1-21 (recommended) B. Competing Conceptions of What, Who, and How 1. Case Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 1476-1508 2. Defenses and Critiques Bork, Again, a Struggle for the Soul of the Court, SR 1 Dworkin, The Center Holds!, SR 2 Neuhaus, The Dred Scott of Our Time, SR 3 Sullivan, A Victory for Roe, SR 4 Holmes, The Right to Abortion Advances Quietly in State Courts, SR 5 Gewirtz & Golder, So Who Are the Activists?, SR 6 Assignment 2: January 24 II. GENERAL THEORIES OF CONSTITUTIONAL INTERPRETATION A. Interpretivism/Originalism 1. Arguments for Interpretivism/Originalism 2. Case Bork, The Tempting of America, 133-60, 81-84 Scalia, Originalism: The Lesser Evil, 249-54 Brown v. Board of Education, 974-79
3 B. Protecting Fundamental Rights: Personal Liberties 1. Arguments for Judicial Vindication of Fundamental Rights 2. Case Assignment 3: January 31 Brennan, The Constitution of the United States: Contemporary Ratification, 255-61 Dworkin, Life s Dominion, 118-47 Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 1476-1508 (again) C. Deferring to versus Reinforcing Representative Democracy 1. Arguments for Judicial Deference to Representative Democracy Thayer, The Origin and Scope of the American Doctrine of Constitutional Law, 711-18 2. Arguments for Judicial Reinforcement of Representative Democracy 3. Case Ely, Democracy and Distrust, 1-14, 43-104 United States v. Carolene Products Co., 718-26 Assignment 4: February 7, 12:45-2:10 (make-up class for February 14, when class will not meet) D. Reinforcing Deliberative Democracy versus Securing Constitutional Democracy 1. Arguments for Judicial Reinforcement of Deliberative Democracy Sunstein, The Partial Constitution, 123-61 (recommended) Fleming, Securing Constitutional Democracy, 37-51, 59-60 2. Arguments for Judicial Reinforcement of Deliberative Autonomy Together with Deliberative Democracy Fleming, Securing Constitutional Democracy, 1-10, 19-36 (recommended), 61-62, 67-79, 89-98 Sunstein, Second-Order Perfectionism, SR 7 (recommended)
4 III. ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST PROTECTING CERTAIN UNENUMERATED FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS Assignment 5: February 7, 2:10-4:10 (regular class) 1. Cases A. Economic Liberties Dred Scott v. Sandford, 217-28 Lochner v. New York, 1248-54 West Coast Hotel v. Parrish, 1262-69 2. Critiques of Lochnering Bork, The Tempting of America, 36-49 Ely, Democracy and Distrust, 14-21 Sunstein, The Partial Constitution, 40-67 Fleming, Securing Constitutional Democracy, 41-43 (again), 134-36 3. The New Right v. the Libertarian Right on Economic Liberties Bork, The Tempting of America, 223-30 February 14: no class (make-up class on February 7, 12:45-2:10) Assignment 6: February 21 1. Cases B. Fundamental Rights Equal Protection Skinner v. Oklahoma, 1141-46 Shapiro v. Thompson, 1147-55 San Antonio School District v. Rodriguez, 1099-1110 2. Arguments for Welfare Rights Michelman, Welfare Rights in a Constitutional Democracy, SR 8 Black, Further Reflections on the Constitutional Justice of Livelihood, SR 9 Amar, Forty Acres and a Mule, SR 10 Sunstein, The Partial Constitution, 69-71, 138-40, 155-56 3. Critiques of Welfare Rights
5 Bork, The Impossibility of Finding Welfare Rights in the Constitution, SR 11 Ely, Democracy and Distrust, 148-49, 162, 172-79 4. Is the Constitution a Charter of Negative Liberties or a Charter of Positive Benefits? Assignment 7: February 28 DeShaney v. Winnebago County Dept. of Social Services, 1608-15 C. Personal Liberties 1. Personal Liberties: Antecedents from the Era of Lochner v. New York 2. Privacy Meyer v. Nebraska, 1442-46 Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 1447-48 a. Cases Poe v. Ullman, 158-67 Griswold v. Connecticut, 167-78 b. Arguments for Deriving Unenumerated Rights Through the Ninth Amendment Ely, Democracy and Distrust, 34-41 Black, On Reading and Using the Ninth Amendment, SR 12 Fleming, Securing Constitutional Democracy, 32-34 c. Arguments against Doing So Bork, The Tempting of America, 95-100, 166-67, 178-85 3. The Level of Abstraction in the Characterization of Rights a. Case Michael H. v. Gerald D., 178-87 b. A Critique of Justice Scalia s Michael H. Jurisprudence Bork, The Tempting of America, 235-40
6 Assignment 8: March 7 4. Abortion I a. Case Assignment 9: March 21 5. Abortion II Roe v. Wade, 1453-66 b. Arguments for the Right to Abortion Dworkin, Life s Dominion, 81-117 c. Critiques of the Right to Abortion a. Case Assignment 10: March 28 Bork, The Tempting of America, 110-16 Ely, The Wages of Crying Wolf: A Comment on Roe v. Wade, SR 13 Noonan, The Root and Branch of Roe v. Wade, SR 14 Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 1476-1508 (again) b. Arguments for the Right to Abortion: Privacy versus Equality Dworkin, Life s Dominion, 148-78, 50-57 MacKinnon, Reflections on Sex Equality Under Law, SR 15 Sunstein, The Partial Constitution, 257-61, 270-85 c. Calls for Taking Responsibilities as well as Rights Seriously Dworkin, Life s Dominion, 57-67, 150-59 (again) Fleming & McClain, Ordered Liberty: Rights, Responsibilities, and Virtues, SR 16 6. Same-Sex Intimate Association I a. Case Bowers v. Hardwick, 1518-32
7 Assignment 11: April 4 b. Defenses of Bowers Bork, The Tempting of America, 116-26 c. Critiques of Bowers Ely, Democracy and Distrust, 162-64 Sandel, Moral Argument and Liberal Toleration: Abortion and Homosexuality, SR 17 Sunstein, Sexual Orientation and the Constitution: A Note on the Relationship Between Due Process and Equal Protection, SR 18 Fleming, Securing Constitutional Democracy, 51-59 7. Same-Sex Intimate Association II a. Cases Romer v. Evans, 1111-25 Lawrence v. Texas, 1532-52 Attorney General Holder s Letter Concerning the Defense of Marriage Act, SR 19 b. Critiques of Lawrence Sandel, Epilogue, SR 20 Sunstein, What Did Lawrence Hold?, SR 21 8. A Critique of the Calls for a Substantive and a Minimalist Republicanism Assignment 12: April 11 Fleming, Securing Constitutional Democracy, 141-71 9. Same-Sex Marriage a. Cases Baker v. State of Vermont, 1125-41 Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, 1552-76 b. Critiques of Goodridge Rosen, Immodest Proposal, SR 22
Assignment 13: April 18 10. The Right to Die a. Cases b. Critiques 8 Sunstein, Federal Appeal, SR 23 Sandel, Justice (section on Same-Sex Marriage), SR 24 Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Dept. of Health, 1577-88 Washington v. Glucksberg, 1589-1608 Dworkin, Life s Dominion, 179-217 (recommended), 237-41 (recommended) Dworkin, Assisted Suicide: What the Court Really Said, SR 25 Fleming, Securing Constitutional Democracy, 120-23 Sandel, Last Rights, SR 26 Sunstein, Foreword: Leaving Things Undecided, SR 27, 6-10, 93-96 11. Reconceiving the Due Process Inquiry: Between Scalia and Charybdis Fleming, Securing Constitutional Democracy, 109-19, 123-27, 139-40 IV. REPRISE ON REINFORCING DEMOCRACY AND PROTECTING FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS: A CALL FOR PERFECTING CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY Fleming, Securing Constitutional Democracy, 210-11, 220-27