Course Catalog

This course will examine the legal framework governing the federal budget and appropriations process. We will address the constitutional, statutory, and administrative principles that shape fiscal decision making in the U.S. government. Students will explore the roles of Congress, the Executive Branch, and the judiciary in the allocation and control of public funds, analyzing key statutes such as the Budget and Accounting Act, the Budget and Impoundment Control Act, and the Antideficiency Act, as well as the key means of enforcement of appropriations law principles from within the Executive Branch, from congressional and Government Accountability Office oversight, and from the courts. We will also discuss the role and power of the Office of Management and Budget in directing Executive Branch spending decisions.

• Type: Upper Class

China has struggled with "constitutionalism" since the late 19th century, and the last Chinese imperial dynasty's attempt at domestic political reform and self-strengthening in the face of aggressive foreign powers, European and Asian. That early engagement with constitutionalism, however, was focused entirely on Qing Dynasty-led political institutional reform, specifically the establishment of a national consultative assembly or even legislature, and transformation of the Qing dynasty into a species of constitutional monarchy. A separate idea, "strict constitutionalism" or the authoritative review of legislative and regulatory enactments or government action for conformity with the higher principles enshrined in a written constitution, only gained attention in the early 1930s with the rise of the Guomindang (KMT) single party state and serious constraints placed on what many Chinese citizens perceived to be basic civil and political rights. This seminar will focus on the development of such "strict constitutionalism" in the Chinese world between 1895 and the present, focusing on the unique elements of this project in the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 1949 to date, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region transformed from a colony of the United Kingdom into a special administrative region of the PRC in 1997 Handover, and the Republic of China on Tawian as it has moved from "emergency" (military) rule to a more democratic system. Accordingly, the course will concentrate on the protection of basic human rights under domestic law (and constitutions) in the Chinese world, without significant consideration of how nation states in the Chinese world implement international human rights treaties domestically, whether directly or by incorporation of such treaty obligations into domestic law. Ultimately, the course will grapple with difficult questions about the basic suitability of such strict constitutionalism, or indeed the protection of basic civil and political rights against the state (or party behind the state) under domestic law, for Chinese world nation states, with some consideration of alternative mechanisms which might also ensure the protection of such rights.

• Type: Upper Class

Professor Chaney's section: This course will explore the practical, conceptual and procedural mechanics of civil rights practice through mock litigation of one or more simulated case studies. Students will engage the stages of litigation, including claim and defense development, preparing and answering pleadings, crafting written discovery, conducting effective depositions, and presenting oral argument, while exploring the nuanced issues that arise in civil rights practice. Professor Steinberg's section: This course examines how civil rights lawyers use federal civil rights litigation to address contemporary social problems. Students will develop and litigate a simulated case based on an actual controversy in Detroit where police officers "removed" unhoused individuals from tourist-friendly areas against their will. Students will gain experience in client interviewing, public records requests, writing demand letters, drafting complaints, responding to motions to dismiss, oral argument, depositions, and negotiations. They will also learn how to overcome the many procedural obstacles to justice posed by 42 U.S.C. section 1983 and explore the ethical issues faced by public interest lawyers when representing clients in civil rights cases. The course will emphasize how litigation can be most effective in achieving social change when it is a part of an "integrated advocacy" campaign that includes public education, legislation, and/or community action.

• Type: Practice Simulation

Classical Liberalism and the Rule of Law This course will examine the indispensable role of the Rule of Law in free societies. We will first explore the the nature of free societies as described by classical-liberal theory, notably in the writings of Friedrich Hayek. We will also contrast free societies with authoritarian or collectivist ones, which rule by commands. We will then trace the development of the Rule of Law in Anglo-American history, from the earliest emergence of the common law to the ratification of the American Constitution. Finally, we will define the Rule of Law and contrast its operation with that of the modern administrative state.

• Type: Upper Class

Congressional Investigations and Powers. The seminar will examine how conflicts between Congressional investigatory and impeachment procedures and legislative powers and Executive Branch privilege assertions and other defenses have led to gridlock between the branches. We will identify the factors that have contributed to these conflicts; review relevant federal court decisions, Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinions, and Congressional Rules; and consider options to improve the process for resolving inter branch disputes going forward. The classes will include video excerpts from Congressional hearings and incorporate guest lectures by current and former Congressional and Administration officials. Grading will be based 30% for class participation, 30% for discussion leads (each week 2-3 students will be assigned as discussion leads and asked to write a 2-page short paper analyzing the readings); and 40% for a final written assignment of 15 pages.

• Type: Seminar

An intensive and critical examination of the role of federal courts in maintaining a constitutional order in the United States. Among the topics considered are justiciability, the power of Congress to control the jurisdiction of federal and state courts, Supreme Court review of state court decisions, federal habeas corpus for state prisoners, and suits challenging official action.

• Type: Upper Class

Professor Adams' section: This course covers the law of the First Amendment's speech clause. We proceed in three parts: the categories of expression the Court has treated as unprotected or less protected and how those categories were built; the modes of regulating speech and the standards of review that attach to them; and the guarantees that reach beyond speaking itself -- the right not to speak and the right to associate. You will find much of the expression we will study worthless, offensive, or dangerous, and some of it has caused real harm to real people. The First Amendment's characteristic move is to protect it anyway, and a principal justification is democratic: citizens cannot govern themselves if the government may decide what they hear. Expect to leave some classes less settled than you entered them. Professor Herzog's section: This course examines the law made by The Supreme Court concerning the freedom of speech, and the freedom and establishment of religion.

• Type: Upper Class

History in Constitutional Litigation --- This course explores the role of historical arguments in constitutional litigation, focusing on how lawyers marshal historical evidence to advance doctrinal claims and how judges assess and interpret that history in the process of discerning constitutional meaning. We will engage with a range of recent constitutional cases -- including those concerning the Second Amendment, abortion rights, religious liberty, and immigration -- to examine both the methodologies used by litigators to make historical arguments, and the standards and frameworks courts employ to assess those arguments. Special attention will be given to the role of amicus briefs filed by historians and legal scholars, and the tensions between historical scholarship and legal advocacy. Through close reading of litigation materials, judicial opinions, and relevant historical texts, students will develop critical skills in assessing historical claims, understanding originalist and non-originalist approaches, and crafting historically grounded legal arguments.

• Type: Seminar

Regulating by the Numbers: Benefit-Cost Analysis and OIRA Review --- With Congress perennially at a virtual standstill, most new federal legal requirements come from administrative agencies. And these regulations touch on some of our most fundamental values and challenges: human health, climate change, societal inequities, and so on. Over decades, agencies have developed standardized ways of incorporating these values, with benefit-cost analysis ("BCA") and review by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs ("OIRA") often taking center stage. This seminar will zoom in on these vital steps in the regulatory process, helping unlock a critical skillset for regulatory advocates. Topics will include the legal nuts and bolts of agency BCA and OIRA review, BCA's philosophical and economic underpinnings, deep dives on particular issues (valuing lives, climate-change costs, distributional considerations, future people, the environment, nonhuman animals, etc.), and alternative decisionmaking frameworks. We will touch on current events and live controversies in this space. Grades will be based on class participation, short reactions to the readings, and a semester-long term paper taking a stance on one of the technical or ethical issues raised in class. Previous or concurrent exposure to administrative law (e.g., taking Legislation and Regulation or Administrative Law) is recommended but not strictly required, and no economics background is expected.

• Type: Seminar