This is a class in constitutional interpretation. We will examine cases from various doctrinal areas such as federalism, equal protection (particularly, affirmative action), Second Amendment right to bear arms, etc. in order to obtain a clear view of how the Court derives constitutional law from the text of the Constitution and other sources. We will pay particular attention to the debate between the originalists and the advocates of the so-called Living Constitution model of interpretation, and also the debate between those who see the primary role of constitutional decision-making as that of facilitating democratic processes and those who see the primary role as that of adhering to some substantive values. In addition to the cases, readings will be drawn from the writings of some leading constitutional commentators, including John Hart Ely, Laurence Tribe, and Ronald Dworkin.
Levinson, Sanford V. 
Bobbitt, Philip C. 