Fall 2023
This course offers an overview of civil liberties and civil rights under the United States Constitution. It will cover First Amendment freedoms, including freedom of speech and of the press, freedom of assembly and association, and religious freedoms (prohibition on establishment of religion and protection of free exercise of religion). It will also cover rights protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, including due process of law and equal protection of the laws. A few other individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution will be briefly discussed (takings, contract clause, Second Amendment gun rights, Ninth Amendment "privacy" rights). It does not cover constitutional rights in criminal law matters, which are covered in the Criminal Procedure course.