State Constitutional Law – 6816

Explores the important field of state constitutions and constitutional law in the United States. Topics addressed will include the politics of state supreme court systems and the role of these courts in protection of individual rights and the definition of the American political process. Of importance will be examination of the ways state courts and constitutions adjudicate differently from the United States Supreme Court on a variety of important issues including abortion and privacy, criminal due process, education, taxation, as well as the issues of state power and governmental organization. Please note that this class is taught in very few law schools. This means that this class is a unique experience in learning more about a body of law that will have a dramatic and direct impact upon a lawyer's daily practice of law.