Constitutional Law

Focusing on the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act, this lesson gives a brief overview of the ways in which federal environmental and natural resources law can raise issues regarding the federal government's constitutional authority to regulate pursuant to the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. In particular, it looks at the possible limitations on the federal government's Commerce Clause authority as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1995 decision in United States v. Lopez and as a result of federalism and land use considerations.

This lesson discusses the role of federal preemption in the implementation of environmental law. Specifically, when do federal environmental and natural resources statutes preempt, or displace, state laws on similar subjects? When are states free to enact their own environmental protections? What is the relationship between federal environmental law and state torts?

This lesson is intended as an overview of Constitutional Law principles that are important in Family Law. It can be used at the beginning of the Family Law course as a refresher of Constitutional Law. It can also be used during the course to clarify general constitutional doctrine. This lesson is related to two other lessons regarding constitutional aspects of Family Law.

The purpose of this lesson is to review basic doctrines and theories of individual rights covered in Constitutional Law courses. The lesson covers the Due Process Clause, the Equal Protection Clause, and the First Amendment, as they apply in the Family Law context.

This lesson is an examination of the constitutional law aspects of Family Law. It builds upon lessons which provide a review of Constitutional Law in the Family Law context, but is much more detailed. It is intended as a supplement and review of constitutional doctrine as it occurs in specific Family Law areas such as marriage, divorce, parenting, procreation, sexuality, the rights of minors, and end-of life issues.

This lesson provides a review of the constitutional requirements for standing in federal courts that citizen plaintiffs must fulfill in order to bring environmental citizen suits in the federal courts.

This lesson covers Congress's authority to enact legislation pursuant to the Commerce Clause under the Supreme Court's rulings since 1995.

This lesson is designed to help students understand the term "search" as it is used under the Fourth Amendment. As we shall see, the term is a term of art which does not always correspond to popular conceptions or definitions of the term search. In this lesson, we explore the various facets and definitions of the term. This lesson is intended for students who have studied these issues in class and who would like to refine their knowledge.