Constitutional Law

This lesson considers equal protection and affirmative action. It treats the beginnings of affirmative action, the level of scrutiny that applies to affirmative action, the special context of affirmative action and education, and affirmative action and the political process, including redistricting.

This lesson covers First Amendment doctrine and theory pertaining to commercial speech. The lesson considers the development of commercial speech from unprotected to protected speech; the applicable constitutional tests for evaluating commercial speech, the doctrine regarding mandated disclosures in commercial contexts, and recent cases decided by the Roberts Court considering commercial speech.

This lesson discusses the role of federal preemption in the implementation of environmental law. Specifically, when do federal environmental and natural resources statutes preempt, or displace, state laws on similar subjects? When are states free to enact their own environmental protections? What is the relationship between federal environmental law and state torts?

This lesson is intended as an overview of Constitutional Law principles that are important in Family Law. It can be used at the beginning of the Family Law course as a refresher of Constitutional Law. It can also be used during the course to clarify general constitutional doctrine. This lesson is related to two other lessons regarding constitutional aspects of Family Law.

The purpose of this lesson is to review basic doctrines and theories of individual rights covered in Constitutional Law courses. The lesson covers the Due Process Clause, the Equal Protection Clause, and the First Amendment, as they apply in the Family Law context.

This lesson is an examination of the constitutional law aspects of Family Law. It builds upon lessons which provide a review of Constitutional Law in the Family Law context, but is much more detailed. It is intended as a supplement and review of constitutional doctrine as it occurs in specific Family Law areas such as marriage, divorce, parenting, procreation, sexuality, the rights of minors, and end-of life issues.

This lesson provides a review of the constitutional requirements for standing in federal courts that citizen plaintiffs must fulfill in order to bring environmental citizen suits in the federal courts.

This lesson covers Congress's authority to enact legislation pursuant to the Commerce Clause under the Supreme Court's rulings since 1995.

This lesson is designed to help students understand the term "search" as it is used under the Fourth Amendment. As we shall see, the term is a term of art which does not always correspond to popular conceptions or definitions of the term search.

Prof. Andersen has written a CALI lesson that provides students with extensive flowcharts designed to aid in learning the analytical framework necessary for understanding the Dormant Commerce Clause. In this podcast, Prof.

This lesson covers the historical evolution of Congress's authority to enact legislation pursuant to the Commerce Clause. Congress's contemporary Commerce Clause authority is covered in a separate lesson.

This exercise is designed for use in conjunction with any Federal Courts, Federal Jurisdiction, or Civil Rights course that covers the Eleventh Amendment. The exercise takes the student through attempts to bring a federal lawsuit to rectify substandard conditions at a home for the mentally ill.

The lesson concerns the applicability of the Equal Protection Clause to the federal government, a constitutional doctrine often known as "reverse incorporation." It can be used as class preparation, review, or as a supplement.

This lesson is designed to introduce you to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. It is one of a number of lessons on the religion clauses (which include the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause), and the first of several lessons on Establishment Clause issues. It is intended for students who have studied these issues and wish to refine their knowledge.

This lesson focuses on the presidential version of executive privilege. The lesson examines the justifications for the privilege, the requirements for its invocation, and judicial handling of that privilege.

This lesson is designed to introduce students to the Fourth Amendment prohibition against "unreasonable searches and seizures." The goal is to provide students with an overview of the history of the Fourth Amendment, as well as an introduction to the warrant requirement and the concept of warrantless searches. The lesson is intended for students who have studied these issues in class, and wish to refine their knowledge.

This lesson addresses freedom of speech issues for public school employees at the elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels.

The Lesson concerns the constitutional doctrine and theories of incorporation regarding whether the federal government, the state government, or both are bound by the specific individual constitutional rights in the Bill of Rights.

This is the third in a series of lessons on injunctions against speech. This lesson focuses on injunctions against invasions of privacy. The lesson is intended for students who have studied this material in class and who seek to refine their knowledge.

This lesson concerns Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803), a difficult and important case in Constitutional Law. It is contained in every Constitutional Law casebook and usually appears as one of the first cases. This lesson is designed to assist students to understand Marbury v. Madison and its relevance.

This lesson covers the basic constitutional issues and arguments in marriage with an emphasis on same-sex marriage litigation, including Hollingsworth v. Perry, United States v. Windsor, and Obergefell v. Hodges. It is best used as a supplement or review.

This lesson explores the concepts of notice and knowledge. These are important concepts in many areas of law, e.g., contracts, property, constitutional law, criminal procedure and civil procedure.