Constitutional Law

Learn to Analyze the Constitution and Its Modern-Day Implications

The U.S. Constitution was written over 200 years ago, yet it continues to have a considerable impact on life in America today. Constitutional law addresses foundational questions at the core of our democracy and has tremendous practical significance for the most important and intimate aspects of people’s lives. What are the powers and limitations of the executive, judiciary, and legislative branches of the federal government? What individual rights are guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments? When is someone accused of a crime entitled to a jury trial—or even a lawyer?

Miami Law requires you to take Constitutional Law during your 1L year and offers other fundamental courses such as Federal Courts and Legislation. Then, delve into our specialized courses such as Impeachment Politics in Constitutional Perspective and explore new constitutional territory such as cyber abuse and harassment in our Cyber Civil Rights Practicum. No matter what your interest in constitutional law is, our interdisciplinary curriculum will shape your legal career for years to come.

Cards

Moot

Our moot court team participates on average in 15 competitions a year, many with a focus on constitutional law: the Seigenthaler-Sutherland Cup National First Amendment Moot Court Competition, the National Appellate Advocacy Competition, the Evan A. Evans Constitutional Law Moot, the Burton D. Wechsler First Amendment Moot Competition and more.

Courthouses

There are many federal court houses near campus; The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida operates out of courthouses in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach.

Supreme Court

Various U.S. Supreme Court Justices have come to campus to speak with students including: Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson, Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice John Paul Stevens, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.

Courses*

*Course list is not exhaustive and does not set out a path of study.

  • Academic Writing
  • Advanced Appellate Advocacy
  • Advanced Topics in Reproductive Rights/Reproductive Justice
  • American Legal History
  • Animal Law Constitutional Law I, II, and III
  • Civil Rights in the Supreme Court
  • Criminal Procedure
  • Criminal Procedure: Adjudication
  • Criminal Prosecution
  • Election Law
  • Employment Discrimination
  • Employment Law
  • Entertainment and Media Law in a Digital Age
  • Environmental Appellate Advocacy
  • Fake News: Media Law in the Age of Trump False Confessions and Custodial Interrogations
  • Family Law
  • Federal Courts
  • Federal Indian Law
  • First Amendment
  • First Amendment Fundamentalism
  • Florida Constitutional Law
  • Florida Criminal Procedure
  • Housing Discrimination
  • Impeachment Politics in Constitutional Perspective
  • International Comparative Media Law
  • Academic Writing
  • Advanced Appellate Advocacy
  • Advanced Topics in Reproductive Rights/Reproductive Justice
  • American Legal History
  • Animal Law Constitutional Law I, II, and III
  • Civil Rights in the Supreme Court
  • Criminal Procedure
  • Criminal Procedure: Adjudication
  • Criminal Prosecution
  • Election Law
  • Employment Discrimination
  • Employment Law
  • Entertainment and Media Law in a Digital Age
  • Environmental Appellate Advocacy
  • Fake News: Media Law in the Age of Trump False Confessions and Custodial Interrogations
  • Family Law
  • Federal Courts
  • Federal Indian Law
  • First Amendment
  • First Amendment Fundamentalism
  • Florida Constitutional Law
  • Florida Criminal Procedure
  • Housing Discrimination
  • Impeachment Politics in Constitutional Perspective
  • International Comparative Media Law
  • Law and the Media
  • Legal Advocacy and Same-Sex Marriage
  • Legislation
  • Media Law
  • Modern Alcohol Beverage Law
  • Natural Resources
  • Privacy
  • Criminal Law and Procedure
  • Property
  • Race and the Law Race, Class, and Power: the #BlackLivesMatter Movement
  • Scientific Evidence
  • Second Amendment Fundamentalism
  • Sexuality, Gender Identity, and the Law
  • Social Media and the Law
  • The 10th Justice
  • The Adversary System
  • The Criminalization of Homelessness
  • The Death Penalty in Decline
  • The Free Speech Clause
  • The Freedom of Information Act
  • The Language of Habeas Corpus
  • Torture and the Law
  • Vimeo, Twitter, and YouTube: Online Liability and Net Neutrality
  • Voting Rights and Election Law
  • Writing for the Judiciary
  • Wrongful Convictions

 

Academic Programs and Concentrations

Clinics and Practicums

Joint Degrees

Accordion Group

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Externships and Internships

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  • Hands-On Learning Opportunities

    **List is not exhaustive and is intended to provide examples of past externships and internships.

    • ACLU (New York, NY and Atlanta, GA)
    • ACLU of Florida, LGBTQ+ Rights Division
    • Advocates for Justice in Education (DC)
    • American Bar Association Commission on Immigration (DC)
    • Americans for Immigrant Justice
    • Baltimore City Public Defender's Office (Baltimore, MD)
    • Capital Appeals Project (New Orleans, LA)
    • Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (Washington, DC)
    • Center for Constitutional Rights (New York, NY)
    • Center for Reproductive Rights (New York, NY)
    • Children's Law Center (DC)
    • Children's Rights (New York, NY)
    • Dallas County District Attorney's Office (Dallas, TX)
    • Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
    • FairVote (DC)
    • Florida Justice Institute
    • Lambda Legal (New York, NY)
    • Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (DC)
    • MacArthur Justice Center (New Orleans, LA)
    • Miami-Dade Legal Aid
    • Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office
    • Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office
    • Multicultural Media, Telecom & Internet Council (DC)
    • National Women’s Law Center (DC)
    • National Youth Law Center (DC)
    • San Diego Public Defender's Office (San Diego, CA)
    • Texas Civil Rights Project (Austin, TX)
    • The Arc National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability (Washington, DC)
    • The Legal Aid Society (Bronx, NY)
    • U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
    • U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (Atlanta, Georgia)
    • U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Environmental Justice (DC)
    • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida
    • U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division (DC)
    • U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
    • U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
    • Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights (Chicago, IL)

Faculty

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  • Meet Our Faculty Experts

    • Ricardo J. Bascuas is an expert in evidence, criminal procedure, international criminal law.
    • Caroline Bettinger-López's scholarship, practice, and teaching concern international human rights law and policy advocacy, violence against women, gender and race discrimination, immigrants’ rights, and clinical legal education.
    • Donna K. Coker teaches in the areas of criminal law, gender and inequality; teaches Evidence which has elements of Constitutional Law weaved into it via the Confrontation Clause.
    • Charlton Copeland served as a law clerk to Justices Richard J. Goldstone and Catherine O'Regan of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. His research interests include comparative constitutional law.
    • Caroline Mala Corbin's scholarship focuses on the First Amendment’s speech and religion clauses, particularly their intersection with equality issues.
    • Marc Fajer is an expert in eminent domain; has taught property, elements, antitrust law, American legal history, constitutional law, housing discrimination, and identity politics and law.
    • Zanita Fenton teaches courses in Family Law, Torts, Race and the Law, Constitutional Law, and seminars on Critical Race Feminism and Women and the Law Stories.
    • Christina M. Frohock teaches courses on Guantánamo legal issues and legal communication and research.
    • Patrick O. Gudridge teaches United States constitutional law.
    • Elizabeth M. Iglesias teaches International Criminal Law and International Economic Law.
    • Donald M. Jones teaches in the areas of criminal procedure, constitutional law, employment discrimination.
    • Tamara Rice Lave teaches in the areas of criminal law, criminal procedure, ethics, punishment, sex offender legislation.
    • Keith Rosenn has taught courses in constitutional law, comparative law, Latin American law.
    • Stephen J. Schnably is an expert in civil rights litigation to protect the constitutional rights of homeless persons.
    • Irwin P. Stotzky is an expert on constitutional law and human rights.
    • Scott E. Sundby teaches in the areas of criminal law, criminal procedure, constitutional law.
    • Francisco Valdes is the co-founder of the LatCrit movement and has also taught Comparative Law.

Conferences, Lectures, Centers

  • HOPE Public Interest Resource Center - Offers students many opportunities to do civil rights work locally, nationally, and internationally.
  • Louis Henkin Lecture Series on Human Rights - Miami Law’s lecture series on human rights is named in honor of the late Louis Henkin, a prominent law professor at Columbia University who was one of the founders of the academic study of human rights and who helped educate a whole generation of human rights lawyers, scholars, and activists, including some Miami Law professors. 

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