This course explores the content of the Bill of Rights and the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as the reasoning process used by American courts in resolving constitutional and other legal disputes. It is modeled on a first-year law school course. The readings consist almost exclusively of abbreviated versions of U.S. Supreme Court opinions. Students will learn how to write brief, formal summaries of these opinions of the type typically prepared by American Law students and lawyers, and will be expected to participate actively in the type of in-class Socratic dialogues that are the standard method of instruction in American law schools.