A Moot Court for Constitutional Issues

Abstract

According to the syllabus of “Civil Rights and the Constitution“—an undergraduate public law course at the University of Maryland—we study Supreme Court cases, and we “do constitutional law.” The phrase—“doing law“—is intended to capture Sheldon Wolin's notion of “doing political theory.” That is, public law, like political theory, should be an active pursuit, not a passive process of ingestion. Law and theory are rich in pedagogical opportunities to involve students with issues of recurrent public importance, and to do so in a creative manner that develops critical, principled, analytical skills. In public law, this can be done by reliance on structured role-playing, involving judicial problem solving, and focusing on a normatively exciting hypothetical issue over which participants might reasonably differ.