Prerequisites: LLMs must have taken or be concurrently enrolled in Constitutional Law or Federal Courts. For students who may have taken applicable courses elsewhere, permission to waive the requisite is required.

Exam Type: No Exam

This seminar will examine constitutional issues in the context of the U.S. military justice system. To that end, students will become familiar with the constitutional and statutory framework establishing that system as well as case law from federal courts analyzing the legal issues that arise from its operation. Over the course of the semester we will examine issues related to the position of an Article I court within the federal system, particularly jurisdiction, as well as areas of constitutional law such as aspects of criminal procedure, Due Process, and First Amendment jurisprudence, albeit in the military context. Finally, while a military background is not necessary to fully engage with the course material, we will examine some issues unique to the military justice system.

The goal of this seminar is to both improve your understanding of constitutional issues as they relate to the military justice system and help you develop an organized framework for approaching legal problems. As such, each topic will begin with the text of the underlying constitutional provision, followed by the text of the relevant statute, and finally the body of case law related to each topic. From time to time, we will also read scholarly articles and advocacy documents that will help put these issues into context.