Religion and the Constitution: POLSC 294:14-01
Class Meetings: Tu/Fri 2:10 p.m. - 3:25 p.m., Room W208
Instructor: Professor Leora Harpaz
Office: W 1730A (Adjunct Faculty Office)
Professor’s Website: www.lharpaz.com
Course Webpage: www.lharpaz.com/religion/religion.html
Syllabus Fall 2017
Course Description:
This course examines the First Amendment's Establishment and Free
Exercise Clauses. The two Religion Clauses continue to be a focus of
controversy in the legal and political arenas. The course will
examine Supreme Court opinions interpreting the Religion Clauses.
Topics arising under the Establishment Clause include prayer in
public school classrooms, religious symbols on public property, and
government funding of parochial school education. Topics arising
under the Free Exercise Clause as well as statutory analogs for
freedom of religion such as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act
include the rights of members of a religion to be exempt from
compulsory education laws and the rights of religious objectors to
be excused from legal requirements such as compliance with the
Affordable Care Act and antidiscrimination laws.
First Amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom
of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of
grievances.
Required Reading:
The readings for the course have been prepared by the instructor.
They consist of introductory material for each subject followed by
U.S. Supreme Court opinions on the various subjects covered in the
course. The opinions have been heavily edited and most omissions are
not marked with ellipses. Footnotes in opinions do not retain their
original numbering.
These readings will all be posted on the course website as a series
of PDF documents (with links on both the course home page and the
online syllabus) that can be printed out to bring to class to
enhance your ability to participate in class discussions. The
material is divided into chapters with each one devoted to a covered
subject. The syllabus divides the chapters into reading assignments
for each class. Typically, each class will cover 2 or 3 court
decisions and the typical length of an assignment will be no more
than 20 pages. Students will not be required to purchase a textbook
or other reading material.
Office Hours:
I can meet with students after class on Tuesday and Friday. However,
please try and arrange for an appointment in advance or let me know
either before class starts or at the end of class that you want to
come to my office to speak with me during that day’s office hours.
That way I will be sure to return to my office immediately after
class.
Classroom Projected Materials:
During class I will occasionally project materials on the screen to
use during class or for informational purposes. All of that material
will be available on the course website throughout the semester for
use by members of the class.
Assignments:
This list of 23 assignments is a partial list of assignments
covering the first seven chapters of the reading. Links to the
chapters themselves are included prior to the list of assignments
from that chapter. Additional chapters of the required reading and
assignments will be posted over the course of the semester.
Each numbered assignment represents the reading for a single class.
However, if we do not complete our discussion of the assigned
material by the end of class, we will complete it in the next class
before beginning the next assignment. Only if we fall one full
assignment behind should you assume you do not need to prepare a new
reading assignment. As the semester progresses, I will add dates to
these assignments to reflect our actual progress. Tentative dates
have been added to several upcoming assignments as well. These
tentative dates will be adjusted to reflect our actual progress.
Please print out and bring to class the material that will be
discussed in class.
Assignments from Chapter
I: The Establishment Clause: Early Cases
1. The Early Cases (Aug. 25)
pages 1-12 (Introduction and Everson v. Board of Education)
2. The Early Cases (Aug. 29)
pages 12-26 (McCollum v. Board of Education, Zorach v. Clauson)
3. The Early Cases (Sept. 1)
pages 26-46 (Engel v. Vitale, School District of Abington Township
v. Schempp)
4. The Early Cases (Sept. 5)
pages 46-59 (Board of Education v. Allen, Walz v. Tax Commission)
5. The Early Cases (Sept. 8)
pages 59-74 (Lemon v. Kurtzman, Tilton v. Richardson)
Assignments from Chapter II: The
Establishment Clause: Government Financing of Religious
Education
6. Government Financing of Religious Education (Sept. 12 and Sept.
15)
pages 75-95 (Introduction, Committee for Public Education v.
Nyquist, Meek v. Pittenger)
7. Government Financing of Religious Education (Sept. 26 and Oct. 3)
(no class on Sept. 19 and Sept. 22)
pages 95-113 (Wolman v. Walter, Mueller v. Allen)
8. Government Financing of Religious Education (Oct. 3) (no class on
Sept. 29)
pages 113-128 (School District of Grand Rapids v. Ball, Aguilar v.
Felton)
9. Government Financing of Religious Education (Oct. 6 - tentative)
pages 128-150 (Witters v. Washington Dep’t of Services for the
Blind, Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School Dist., Agostini v.
Felton)
10. Government Financing of Religious Education (Oct. 10 -
tentative)
pages 151-170 (Mitchell v. Helms)
11. Government Financing of Religious Education (Oct. 13 -
tentative)
pages 170-190 (Zelman v. Simmons Harris)
Assignments from Chapter III: The Establishment Clause:
Religion in Public Schools and Public Universities
12. Religion in Public Schools and Public Universities: Religion in
the Public Schools: 1968-87
pages 191-210 (Introduction, Epperson v. Arkansas, Stone v. Graham,
Wallace v. Jaffree, Edwards v. Aguillard)
13. Religion in Public Schools and Public Universities: Intersection
of the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses
pages 211-230 (Widmar v. Vincent, Board of Education of Westside
Community Schools v. Mergens, Lamb’s Chapel v. Center Moriches
School Dist., Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors of the University
of Virginia)
14. Religion in Public Schools and Public Universities: Intersection
of the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses and School Prayer
Revisited: 1992-2004
pages 230-248 (Good News Club v. Milford Central School, Lee v.
Weisman)
15. Religion in Public Schools and Public Universities: School
Prayer Revisited: 1992-2004
pages 249- 264 (Santa Fe Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Doe, Elk Grove Unified
School Dist. v. Newdow)
Assignments from Chapter IV: The
Establishment Clause: Religion in Civic Life
16. Religion in Civic Life
pages 265-274 (Introduction, McGowan v. Maryland, Larkin v.
Grendel’s Den)
17. Religion in Civic Life
pages 274-291 (Marsh v. Chambers, Lynch v. Donnelly
18. Religion in Civic Life
pages 292-314 (County of Allegheny v. ACLU, Capitol Square Review
Board v. Pinette)
19. Religion in Civic Life
pages 314-343 (Van Orden v. Perry, McCreary County v. ACLU)
20. Religion in Civic Life
pages 343-370 (Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, Town of Greece v.
Galloway)
Assignment from Chapter V: The
Establishment Clause: Discrimination Against and Preferential
Treatment of Particular Religions
21. Discrimination Against and Preferential Treatment of Particular
Religions
Pages 371-394 (Larson v. Valente, Estate of Thornton v. Caldor,
Inc., Corporation of the Presiding Bishop v. Amos, Board of
Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet)
Assignment from Chapter VI: The
Free Exercise Clause: 1879 - 1990
22. The Free Exercise Clause: 1879 - 1990
Pages 395-418 (Malnak v. Yogi, Reynolds v. United States, Prince v.
Massachusetts, Sherbert v. Verner, Wisconsin v. Yoder, United States
v. Lee)
Assignment from Chapter VII: The Free
Exercise Clause: 1990 to 2004
23. The Free Exercise Clause: 1990 to 2004
Pages 419-442 (Employment Div. v. Smith, Church of the Lukumi Babalu
Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah, Locke v. Davey)
Assignment from Chapter VIII: The
Free Exercise Clause: Recent Cases
24. The Free Exercise Clause: Recent Cases
Pages 443-462 (Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer,
Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission)
Assignment from Chapter IX: Statutory
Protection for Religious Liberty
25. Statutory Protection for Religious Liberty
Pages 463-490 (RFRA, Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente
Uniao do Vegetal (UDV), Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., Zubik
v. Burwell, RLUIPA, Cutter v. Wilkinson, Hold v. Hobbs)
Attendance:
Attendance will be taken by students initialing an attendance sheet.
Students are required to attend class on a regular basis. Students
should limit missing class to illness and family or other
emergencies. Class attendance and classroom participation will count
for 10% of the course grade.
Class Participation:
Students will be required to sign up in advance to take principal
responsibility for the discussion of particular reading assignments.
Students are also encouraged to participate in class discussions on
a voluntary basis. Class participation will be taken into account in
grading as described below.
Grading:
There will be two exams during the course of the semester consisting
of a take-home midterm exam and a take-home final examination. The
midterm will count for 35% of the course grade and the final exam
will count for 35% of the course grade. The remaining 30% will be
based on one writing assignments (20%) and a combination of class
attendance and classroom participation (10%). During the semester, I
will use a numerical grading system with grades between 100 and 55
for each individual component of the final grade. The appropriate
percentage of each individual grade will be added together to create
a final numerical grade. These final grades will then be converted
to the letter grading system used for submitting grades.
Exams:
The midterm and final exam will both be take-home exams. You will
have at least one week to complete each exam. The exams will consist
of a combination of multiple choice questions and essay questions.
The majority of the multiple choice questions will require that you
identify the reasoning in a specific case. Essay questions will
provide you with a set of facts that are similar to, but not
identical to, cases that you have read. The set of facts will result
in the filing of a lawsuit. Your answer to the question will require
you to make legal arguments that the parties in the case could
present to a court to support their position.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will learn to understand judicial opinions that analyze
Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause issues. They will
learn to distinguish different types of arguments made in those
opinions including those based on history and tradition, those based
on the interpretation of previous cases, as well as those based on a
particular philosophy of the appropriate relationship between church
and state. They will learn the standards or tests that the U.S.
Supreme Court uses to resolve issues arising under the two Religion
Clauses and how to apply those standards to a variety of different
factual situations. They will also learn how different Supreme Court
Justices interpret the Religion Clauses and the divisions that exist
on the Court in terms of the proper way to analyze these issues.
Students will evaluate these different approaches and determine
which they believe is preferable.
Credit/No Credit Option:
It is Hunter College policy that Credit/No Credit may be requested
by the student up until the final examination (or date of the final
assignment); however "Students requesting grading according to this
system must satisfy whatever attendance requirement has been set by
the instructor, complete all the assignments and take the final
examination. For this class, you must have taken the midterm and
final examinations, turned in all required written exercises and
attended class on a regular basis.
Academic Integrity:
Hunter College's policy on Academic Integrity is as follows: "Hunter
College regards acts of academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism,
cheating on examinations, obtaining unfair advantage, and
falsification of records and official documents) as serious offenses
against the values of intellectual honesty. The College is committed
to enforcing the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity and will pursue
cases of academic dishonesty according to the Hunter College
Academic Integrity Procedures."
ADA Policy:
In compliance with the American Disability Act of 1990 (ADA) and
with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Hunter College
is committed to ensuring educational parity and accommodations for
all students with documented disabilities and/or medical conditions.
It is recommended that all students with documented disabilities
(Emotional, Medical, Physical, and/or Learning) consult the Office
of AccessABILITY, located in Room E1214B, to secure necessary
academic accommodations. For further information and assistance,
please call: (212) 772- 4857 or (212) 650-3230.