Description

This Casebook is intended to be used in a course which concentrates on Constitutional Rights and centers the Fourteenth Amendment. It can be used in a first year Law School course with a title such as “Liberty/ Equality/ and Due Process/” as it is at CUNY School of Law/ an upper division Constitutional Rights course/ or an advanced undergraduate course focusing on constitutional rights/ especially equality and due process. The Casebook begins with the threshold issue of “state action” which orients students to a basic but often under-taught principle of constitutional law. The Casebook then considers judicial review and constitutional interpretation. Chapters 3-6 center on equality/ including slavery before the Reconstruction Amendments/ equal protection for racial/ gender/ and other classifications/ affirmative action/ and fundamental rights in equal protection doctrine. Chapters 7-9 are shorter chapters that consider the Privileges or Immunities Clause/ Incorporation of Bill of Rights provisions to the states/ and the Second Amendment. Chapter 10 focuses on substantive due process/ with Chapter 11 treating the “synergy” between due process and equal protection regarding fundamental rights. The brief last Chapter/ Chapter 12/ includes materials on state constitutional rights/ which can be omitted or integrated into previous subjects.