Fall 2026
5488 Constitutional Law - BERMAN- 11905
Professor(s):
Emily Berman (FACULTY)
Credits: 4
Course Areas: 2nd Year - Part-Time
Time: 5:30p-7:30p MW Location:
Course Outline: This introductory course will cover the text of the United States Constitution, the power of judicial review over federal and state legislation, and the scope of (and limitations on) the federal government’s power. It will cover the constitutional allocation of federal power amongst the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Individual rights guaranteed by the Constitution will also be addressed, including rights such as due process and equal protection created or incorporated by the 14th amendment. The course will help you understand the historical development of the Constitution, including the movement away from the Articles of Confederation, the early disputes over federal power, the changes created in the wake of the Civil War, the expansion of federal power during the New Deal era, and the modern scope of federal legislative, judicial, and executive powers. It will also help you appreciate, recognize, and form your own views on the different theories of interpreting the Constitution, textualism vs. non-textualism; static vs. dynamic; pragmatic vs. formalist. There will be a midterm and a final.
Course Syllabus:
Course Notes: (Face-to-Face) The UH registration system instruction mode for this course is listed in parenthesis. For this instruction mode, instructors and students are expected to normally be physically present in the classroom. If the course has a final examination, it will be in a classroom requiring your physical presence. Other assessment, such as a mid-term exam, may also be in a classroom. Whether this instructor will offer “remote presence” (starting a zoom meeting from the podium computer to enable student remote access on an occasional basis) for part or all of the semester is not known, but students should not rely on an expectation that remote presence will be available.
Prerequisites:
First Day Assignments:
Final Exam Schedule:
This course will have:
Exam:
Paper:
Satisfies Senior Upper Level Writing Requirement: No
Experiential Course Type: No
Bar Course: No
DistanceEd ABA: No
Pass-Fail Student Election: Unavailable (Required Course)