The Supreme Court: Bad Opinions and Great Dissents

Catalog description

This is a course in American Constitutional Law but one with a twist. Courses in this area typically involve reading the majority opinions of the US Supreme Court. Instead, my class will concentrate on dissenting opinions. Most dissents have little influence and are soon forgotten. But some have been very important in changing the direction of the Court and have overturned past precedents. It is these dissents that we will read and which will provide the basis of the work in the course. The dissenting opinions will cover a variety of constitutional subjects: slavery, racial segregation, freedom of religion and speech, the rights of the criminally accused, and economic and social regulation by the state and federal governments.