For a lighthearted, slightly cynical, but ultimately serious deconstruction (and attempted reconstruction) of the typical “Constitutional Law” law-school course, here’s a link to the first of a two-part series at Public Discourse. (I’ll post a link to Part II tomorrow.)

It’s final exam time at the nation’s law schools. That means it’s time for professors to concoct fiendish hypotheticals for essay exams and for students to cram, trying to sort out the various three-part, two-pronged, quadruple-somersault doctrinal “tests” and “tiers of scrutiny” with which the Supreme Court’s judicial decisions have cluttered the Constitution, and prepare to spit back the doctrinal gobbledygook in some equally incoherent form on the test.
This is what passes for “Constitutional Law” in our law schools these days: a hopeless mash-up of confusing half-truths, quarter-truths, and outright untruths, taught as “law.” For the desperate law student, I offer this super-duper two-part mini-review of everything you really need to know about constitutional law: part one today, and part two tomorrow. . . .
And as for the universe of non-law students out there: first, I commend you for your incredible good judgment! You are uncorrupted by a law school education! And I offer you the same mini-primer on “constitutional law,” to help you puncture the inflated puffery of your lawyer-friends (even lawyers need real people as friends) when they spout off about constitutional law “doctrine” in pseudo-intellectual fashion. This primer might also help you navigate through the fog of new Supreme Court decisions. ’Tis the season for these too. Once you realize what the justices are up to, you can see why it often makes so little sense.