The Constitution and War

POSC 470

Dr. Mathew Manweller

Psych 455

963-2396

manwellerm@cwu.edu

 

Intro: Americans like to believe that the Constitution is a constant—in effect during times of peace and during times of war. The truth is more complicated. If history is our guide, the Constitution has been far more “flexible” in times of war than most Americans would like to admit. This class examines how the nation and its presidents have applied the Constitution during times of extreme crisis.

Texts:

Terrorism, the laws of war, and the Constitution—Peter Berkowitz (ed)

Law and the Long War: The future of justice in the age of terror—Benjamin Wittes

War by Other Means—John Yoo

Class Reader

 

DAY               TOPIC                                                                                                READINGS

1       How we fight: Obama v. Cheney                                                             Berkowitz (Waxman)

 

2       The “Cycle Theory”: The Court’s role during times of war

The Civil War:  Presidential Power, Unilateral Action and the Prize cases       Ex Parte Milligan

 

3       Ex Parte Merryman, Ex Parte Milligan and Ex Parte McCardle            

 

4       WWI: The Espionage and Sedition Acts                                                           Berkowitz (Wald)

          

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5       WWII:  Eisentrager, Ex Parte Quirin and Military Tribunals                                 Berkowitz (Yoo)

 

6       Internment and Siezures: Koramatsu and Youngstown Steel                          Berkowitz (Wittes)

 

7       The Geneva Conventions and Protocols (Guest Lecture—Flannigan)            Yoo Ch 2

 

8       The War Powers Act and Dellums v. Bush                                                   Wittes Intro and Ch 1

                                                                                                         Assignment of Congressional Bills

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9       September 11th (video) and the AUMF                                                           Yoo Ch 4

 

10     The PATRIOT Act and Guantanamo Bay                                         Wittes Ch 3 and 4

 

11     Hamdi v Rumsfeld (Audio)

 

12     Rasul v Bush             QUIZ # 1                                                                                 Yoo Ch 5

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13     FISA Courts  (No class)                                                                                          Yoo Ch 6

 

14     Warrantless Wiretapping, the Bush Policy, and Jewel v. NSA

 

15     Detention Policy: Waxman v. Yoo v. Wald v. Wittes                                   Yoo Ch 7

 

16     Oral Reports on Congressional Bills                                                                   Yoo Ch 8

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17     Interrogations, Torture Memos and Military Commissions

 

18     Hamden v. Rumsfeld (Audio)

 

19     Baumadine v. Bush (Audio)

 

20     Fighting the next war: Lessons learned                                                  Wittes 7 & 8

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21     Public Opinion and the War on Terror

http://realclearpolitics.blogs.time.com/2009/06/02/public-sides-with-cheney-against-closing-gitmo/

 

https://www.msu.edu/~bsilver/AJPSCivLib.pdf

 

http://www.aei.org/docLib/20060606_threats.pdf

 

http://epic.org/privacy/survey/

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/general_current_events/64_agree_with_court_ruling_on_patriot_act

 

22     Quiz # 2

 

23     Obama: Change or More of the Same?

 

24     Position Papers Due