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Welcome to Dr. Alan Sager’s Fall  2023 Course

American Constitutional Development: Rights and Liberties

Course Overview | Course Goals | Requirements | Grading | Office Hours | Suggestions

Course Website:   http://sites.la.utexas.edu/amcondev2/

About Dr.Sager

I look forward to teaching and working with you this semester. In case you do not know me, I have a law degree from Michgan (I am not a wolverine) and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Northwestern. I also have a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Tufts University.

I have done many things in my life including practicing law, teaching, being in the political polling and consulting business, running for public office,  being currently in businesses that operate in 3 states, and working on the staff of Chief Justice Warren Burger.  I taught at U.T. from 1969-74 before winning a Judicial Fellowship on the staff of Chief Justice Burger.  During my first  stint here I taught Black Politics in America,  Law and Society, Basic Statistics, and Computer Modelling in Social Science. I stayed on in D.C. for a couple of years and then we spent 3 years in California.

My family and I came back to Austin in 1981. I began teaching again in 1990 after setting up a business that now has around 225 employees in 3 states.  I am now in my 33rd  year as a half time lecturer in the Government Department.

In the Spring of 2013  I won the Harry Ransom Award for Teaching Excellence, my 4th teaching award as a lecturer.   I continue teaching because I love doing it. I love teaching and learning  about the Constitution, the law, judicial process,  and politics.

Overview

This course focuses on the development of American Constitutional law in the areas of civil rights and civil liberties, focusing mainly on the Bill of Rights and the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments.

Most of the assignments involve reading and analyzing edited Supreme Court cases, often with several opinions including  Justice’s concurring and dissenting with the Opinion of the Court.  These opinions not only reveal what the the Constitution says about the issues at hand, they also reveal how justices think and reason.  We will  pay close attention to the theories of interpretation embedded, often to the point of being purposely hidden, in all of these opinions.  We will also look at the social, moral, philosophical  and political contexts at the time the cases  were decided to help us more fully understand the  case and the law.

This course is intended to be valuable to participants who have many different reasons for studying civil rights and civil liberties.

1.  As citizens,  we all need to have a general idea about our rights and liberties and the role of the Constitution in protecting them.  We need to know and understand when a government is encroaching on our rights and as well as when we are encroaching on someone else’s rights.

2. As students of government, we need to know the role of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in structuring American political, social and moral  life.

3. As lifelong students we need to keep expanding our reading, reasoning and interpreting skills.  We  have moved from an industrial to a knowledge based society where these skills become ever more important.

4. For students who are intending to go to law school or thinking about law school, this course can give you a sense of  what law school will be  and help you get “a running start.”  Among other things, we will focus on making powerful relevant logical arguments on all side of the issues we cover in class. which is what a good lawyer should be able to do and open to doing.  The essay part of exams requires making arguments on all sides.

5. For students who are intending to teach,  this course will   help you in a myriad number of ways from being able to teach a better civics course to knowing something about your rights and responsibilities as a teacher as well as those of your students.

6. Being  able to use their expanded and more powerful thinking skills, many of my former students have gone on  to  great jobs in government and business and a number went on to create their own businesses.

Course Goals (promises)

There are four major goals for this course:

1.  To identify the major historical themes and controversies about our Constitution in the areas of civil rights and civil liberties
   
2. To better understand Constitutionalism and  our Constitution;   what  our Constitution is and  is not and how or even whether it has changed and developed over the past 230 plus  years.
3. To  develop a high level of skill in  reading, briefing  and understanding Supreme Court opinions, with special attention on what questions to ask when reading an opinion   Part of this skill includes being able to see and understand the point of view of the person writing an opinion.
4. To raise participants’ “cultural literacy” in Constitutional Law and American Constitutional Development such as knowing the Chief Justices and some of the important Associate Justices, knowing  seminal cases in particular periods of American history and learning the language of civil rights and civil liberties.
5. Perhaps, as important as the above,  to learn to think clearly, to see many different sides of all issues,  to make cogent arguments on both or many different sides of the issues we will cover and to expand our critical thinking skills.

To fulfill these goals, some of the questions we will attempt to answer include:

1. What is a Constitution supposed to do and who is supposed to interpret it?
2. From where did our Constitution come and does that even matter today?
3. What differences, if any, have existed among the justices as to what the Constitution means?
4. How do various justices go about interpreting the Constitution? What accounts for their differences? In other words, what are the various theories of constitutional interpretation?
5. What impact does the Court and Constitution have on American society?
6.  What are the  most important civil liberties issues  today and what might they be tomorrow? 

We will also be constantly searching for the unspoken or assumed premises of the justices and even ourselves as we study these materials.  Bringing such premises to light will sharpen and enhance our analytical skills and ability to create distinctions. Being able to see and create distinctions is the basic building block of learning and most efficient way to expand our understanding of the world around us.

What is required of students in the course:
A. Keep up with reading and briefing for each class regardless of whether the class is ahead or behind on assignments.

B. Know the cases assigned for briefing  before coming to class. This means being able to recite the basic facts, the main issue or two and the holding from memory or brief notes. 

C. Display a willingness to actively participant in the class.

D.  Create within yourself a  willingness to go beyond any self imposed academic limits.

Course Requirements and Grading
1. 3 hours exams approximately 65%(40% objective,60% essay)
2. 2 short papers 3-4 pages approximately 20%(a brief of a recent Supreme case  9% and a paper which explores aspects of that case in more detail 11%)
3. Class attendance, participation   and perhaps some   short quizzes on assigned supplementary reading  or movies 15%. Quizzes may become part of hour exam grade.

Grades are awarded on the plus minus system.

Office Hours and Location

My Wednesday office hours will be after class at the Cactus Cafe in the Union.  (In case Cafe is unavailable, office hours will move to some beer joint near  Drag or San Jacinto). We will go from 4:15 on to ??? Some weeks based on student preferences may be on Mondays.

Before class I will hold office hours from approximately 1:30-2:30 p.m.  I maybe able  to arrive earlier if requested to do so. If you wish to meet me  before class either drop in or send me an email you are coming or both. I  will hold these office hours across from Burdine in the Littlefield cafe area.

Other times on Monday and Wednesday are available by appointment

There will be 2 teaching assistants in this course.  Names and office hours will be supplied at the first class.

Who Should Not Take This Course?
Anyone prone to putting everything off until the exam and not being willing to keep up with daily assignment–that is an  unrepentant and unchangeable PROCRASTINATORS.

How Can Students Make This Course Easier?
Spend all the time necessary in the first few weeks to do  excellent briefs and put together a study group.

Prizes
It is my custom to award prizes for the best paper for each assignment, the best scores on each exam and the highest average for the semester.  For the highest individual exam scores the prize is a U.S. Supreme Court coffee mug.  For the highest semester average , the prize is an engraved plaque with a gavel and  the Supreme Court seal. You also receiv a specially signed copy of Clarence Thomas’s autobiography, My Grandfather’s Son. There are also other  prizes, e.g., for most improvement from one exam to another.

Study Groups  Students  have found that study groups of from 4 to 8 or so  classmates are extremely helpful  in mastering this course. Many of my former students have told me they developed life long friends as a result of their study group.  Study groups are great places to exchange information, get notes if you miss class, as well as enhance you level of understanding of the class materials.  i will begin helping create them on the first day of class.

1. 1. Note: Students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with Disabilities, 471-6259, http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/  Please let me know what accommodations are needed as early in the semester as possible
   2. Every student must follow all rules related to current Covid situation  in class and in all campus buildings at all times.
   3. Students are encouraged to participate in documented daily symptom screening.  This means that each class day in which on-campus activities occur, students must upload certification from the symptom tracking app and confirm that they completed their symptom screening for that day to Canvas.  Students should not upload the results of that screening, just the certificate that they completed it. If the symptom tracking app recommends that the student isolate rather than coming to class, then students must not return to class until cleared by a medical professional.
   4. Information regarding safety protocols with and without symptoms can be found here.
   5. Sharing of Course Materials is Prohibited: No materials used in this class, including, but not limited to, lecture hand-outs, videos, assessments (quizzes, exams, papers, projects, homework assignments), in-class materials, review sheets, and additional problem sets, may be shared online or with anyone outside of the class unless you have my explicit, written permission. Unauthorized sharing of materials promotes cheating. It is a violation of the University’s Student Honor Code and an act of academic dishonesty. I am well aware of the sites used for sharing materials, and any materials found online that are associated with you, or any suspected unauthorized sharing of materials, will be reported to Student Conduct and Academic Integrity in the Office of the Dean of Students. These reports can result in sanctions, including failure in the course.
   6. Class Recordings: Class recordings are reserved only for students in this class for educational purposes and are protected under FERPA. The recordings should not be shared outside the class in any form. Violation of this restriction by a student could lead to Student Misconduct proceedings.
   7. Again:  COVID Caveats: To help keep everyone at UT and in our community safe, it is critical that students report COVID-19 symptoms and testing, regardless of test results, to University Health Services, and faculty and staff report to the HealthPoint Occupational Health Program (OHP) as soon as possible. Please see this link to understand what needs to be reported.  In addition, to help understand what to do if a fellow student in the class (or the instructor or TA) tests positive for COVID, see this University Health Services link.