This course explores the role of Constitutional Rights and Liberties in the American republic and its role in maintaining liberal democratic freedoms. The course places emphasis on the First Amendment, the value of free speech, its limitations, and the ways in which the Supreme Court has balanced interest in free speech against other interests. We also read canonical cases in religious freedoms, Equal Protection and Due Process, and criminal procedure and the rights of the accused. A key objective will be to develop, through writing and discussion, skills involved in effective critical analysis. Since effective critical analysis requires that we understand the ideas we attempt to criticize, we will place at least as much emphasis on trying to clarify the various positions we encounter as we will place on trying to show why we think these positions are right or wrong. This course is designed to introduce students to the challenges and processes behind reading legal cases and the skills tested in traditional law school settings. As such, it serves as an introduction to law school pedagogy. Students will be expected to master ‘case briefing’ and breaking down cases to their component parts, participating in class under the Socratic method, applying case law to hypotheticals, and performing in in-class debates and case presentations.