Litigating History and Originalism (Burset)
Additional Information
Skills Training
None
Grading
25% Participation,
75% Paper
No
Class meets in person.
Course Continuity
Students are encouraged to stay home if you are ill or experience flu-like symptoms. If you miss a class for any reason, it is still your responsibility to make up the work missed.
I offer the following to students who miss class due to illness:
- When you are better, please make an appointment to meet with me and I will review/answer questions about what you missed.
Meeting Times/Location
W 10:30AM - 12:30PM
Tanenbaum Hall 253
Category
Seminar
Credits
3.0
Lawyers often look to history. That’s most obvious in constitutional law, where claims about history, tradition, and original meaning play a leading role before the Supreme Court. But even ordinary private-law litigation can hinge on contested claims about past facts and past law.
This seminar examines how judges and lawyers make and evaluate historical arguments, particularly in the context of originalism and other history-oriented methods of interpreting the Constitution. For the most part, we won’t debate the merits of those methods. Instead, we’ll focus on how they work, so we can understand the theoretical and practical challenges they present to courts and litigants.
Grading: Class participation (25%); response papers (75%). During the semester, you must submit five response papers on weeks of your choosing. Each paper should be 1,500–2,000 words long (including footnotes). If you submit only four papers, I will reduce your final grade by one letter grade (e.g., A to B). I will not give course credit to students who submit fewer than four papers. Each essay should engage with the readings for the upcoming class, but the topic is up to you. I don’t expect outside research for these papers, but you’re welcome to consult any materials you find helpful.
Constitutional Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of constitutional law; Perform legal analysis in the context of constitutional law; Communicate effectively on topics related to constitutional law; Demonstrate an understanding of constitutional law affects other areas of law.
Courts and the Judicial System Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of both substantive and procedural issues in the operation of our legal system; Perform legal analysis in the context of procedural issues and the judicial process; Communicate effectively on topics related to procedure and the judicial process; Demonstrate an understanding of how procedural issues and the judicial process affect all other area of our legal system.
Perspectives on the Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate an understanding of how the law affects, and is affected by, the individual course topic; Perform legal analysis in the context of the individual course topic; Communicate effectively on the legal and other aspects of the individual course topic; Demonstrate the ability to use other disciplines to analyze legal issues relevant to the individual course topic, including economics, philosophy, and sociology, as appropriate.