CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

This eight week course examines how the United States Constitution resolves issues of discrimination and individual rights.  We begin in a lecture format, laying out the structure of the Constitution and some fundamental principles about how the document really works.  We continue in a seminar style, turning to discrimination based on race, gender, and other categories, considering current topics like affirmative action and same sex marriage.  We conclude with a discussion of the nature and scope of constitutional rights, focusing on such individual privacy issues as reproductive rights and end of life decisions.  Throughout the course, we will look at how the politics and personalities of the Supreme Court have influenced the outcomes of constitutional cases, and will explore the reality of such popular myths as the existence of so-called "activist judges"

The course materials will consist primarily of excerpts from the leading cases and law review articles.

Class is limited to 25 members.

JUDITH OLANS BROWN received her B.A. from Mount Holyoke in 1962 and her law degree from Boston College Law School in 1965.  She is Professor Emerita at Northeastern Law School where she was a faculty member for thirty years.  She taught and wrote extensively about constitutional issues, discrimination, and feminist legal theory.