POLI 316 Constitutional Law: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

By reading and analyzing Supreme Court opinions, students will become familiar with the Court's historical willingness and unwillingness to protect individual liberties and rights from governmental infringement. Specific topics include: applying the Bill of Rights to the states; free exercise of religion; religious establishment; freedom of speech, assembly, and association; freedom of press; the right to bear arms; the right to privacy; the rights of the criminally accused; and discrimination on the basis of race, gender, and sexual orientation.