FINAL REFLECTION EXAM PURPOSE: Throughout the semester, you have become
familiar with the institutional politics of the U.S. Supreme Court and its
constitutional interpretation of civil rights and liberties. The final reflection exam’s
purpose is to bring together all of the course material-which includes the required
assigned textbook and non-textbook readings (including judicial opinions), plus the
information and feedback you received by taking part in class discussions-in order to
take stock, and evaluate, what you have learned in this course about the significance
of the Supreme Court as a political institution and their judicial opinions, as well as
their impact on citizens in American politics.
Note that the exam is both a creative exercise and a test of what you have learned in
the course. Use your imagination BUT apply your knowledge of relevant information
about what you have learned in the course in answering the questions.
In answering the questions, be mindful of not repeating the same content, or
examples, you use in answering each question. Each answer must be distinct in
articulating its substantive analytical points and the examples (including judicial
opinions) it uses to support them. The failure to do that will in most likelihood
substantially diminish your grade in this grading weight.
The exam will count for 100 points and ten percent of your final grade.
The exam will be graded in accordance with a take home final reflection exam rubric
that is available for review in the final reflections’ examination area in Canvas.
Exams that are untimely will not be graded, and will earn a zero, unless there is a
verified excuse that is reasonably given to the instructor before (if possible), or
immediately on or after the due date. Late exams will not be accepted unless it is
the result of an excuse in accordance with the syllabus and University
academic policies.
INSTRUCTIONS: To complete this exam, you MUST answer the first question,
plus EITHER the second OR third questions below. If you answer all three
questions, only the first two will be graded.
• This is a take-home exam, but you are not permitted to work in groups, or
with another student or person, including friends and/or family members,
in preparing your answers. Plagiarism software will be used as part of this
exam grading. In this regard, it may be prudent to mindful of the ethical
obligations you will be required to follow as a Kent State student, or as a lawyer
if/after completing law school, especially if you opt to take the bar, pass it, and
thereafter take the oath to practice law in a specific jurisdiction.
• Clearly mark the questions you are answering.
• Using AI or copying or cutting from electronic or other digital sources
from the assigned readings (or from Internet sources or any other print, scanned,
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etc. source/s) is impermissible and treated as a form of plagiarism and/or
cheating.
• For each question answered, limit your responses to three to four typewritten
pages that are single-spaced and drafted with a 12-pt. Times New Roman, or
similar font, with one-inch or so margins, for a maximum of eight pages total.
• It is impermissible to cite to, or use, any external sources beyond what is in the
assigned course readings.
• Your answer must provide citations but include ONLY references to any of the
course textbooks and/or any of the course assigned readings. Citations to outside
course material content is impermissible.
• Citation format example: The first time you cite to an assigned reading (or judicial
opinion) in an essay response, insert the author/s last name or first party case
name (e.g. Barnett and Blackman, Baude, Scalia, Bork, Griswold, etc.), the short
form of the assigned readings’ title (e.g. An Introduction to Constitutional Law,
N.Y. Times Co., etc.), plus the specific page. Thereafter, use only the specific page.
Example: You write, The Shadow Docket is a serious problem of partisan
abuse in judicial decision-making. (Baude, Foreword: The Supreme Court’s
Shadow Docket, p. 22). For the subsequent cite to Baude, use (Baude, p. 23).
• If you cite to a direct quotation (or not), cite to a specific page of the source you
use-the failure to do so will diminish your grade substantively due to a lack of
clarity (note I look up page cites when grading, so not doing cites correctly makes
it hard for me to check the work’s accuracy, among other things).
• As with anything you write in an academic setting for course credit, the final exam
should be written in a form that is grammatically correct and has proper
punctuation, spelling, etc. While grammar and spelling will not be graded per se,
writing poorly and carelessly will impact clarity and undermine in all likelihood
the intent to be understood in what you are writing. Proof-read and spell-and-
grammar check your work, which is easily done in Word and other word processing
software programs.
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS & DUE DATE: Submit your examination answers
in Canvas. The Canvas submission link will only be available until the due date; it
will unavailable after the due date. Email submissions are not accepted, even if done
on time by the due date. Exam submissions before the due date are welcome. The
exam answers are due no later than Tuesday, May 7, by 3:00 p.m. (early exam
Canvas submissions are welcome). Late exams will not be accepted unless it is
the result of an excuse in accordance with the syllabus and University
academic policies.
Good luck!
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etc. source/s) is impermissible and treated as a form of plagiarism and/or
cheating.
• For each question answered, limit your responses to three to four typewritten
pages that are single-spaced and drafted with a 12-pt. Times New Roman, or
similar font, with one-inch or so margins, for a maximum of eight pages total.
• It is impermissible to cite to, or use, any external sources beyond what is in the
assigned course readings.
• Your answer must provide citations but include ONLY references to any of the
course textbooks and/or any of the course assigned readings. Citations to outside
course material content is impermissible.
• Citation format example: The first time you cite to an assigned reading (or judicial
opinion) in an essay response, insert the author/s last name or first party case
name (e.g. Barnett and Blackman, Baude, Scalia, Bork, Griswold, etc.), the short
form of the assigned readings’ title (e.g. An Introduction to Constitutional Law,
N.Y. Times Co., etc.), plus the specific page. Thereafter, use only the specific page.
Example: You write, The Shadow Docket is a serious problem of partisan
abuse in judicial decision-making. (Baude, Foreword: The Supreme Court’s
Shadow Docket, p. 22). For the subsequent cite to Baude, use (Baude, p. 23).
• If you cite to a direct quotation (or not), cite to a specific page of the source you
use-the failure to do so will diminish your grade substantively due to a lack of
clarity (note I look up page cites when grading, so not doing cites correctly makes
it hard for me to check the work’s accuracy, among other things).
• As with anything you write in an academic setting for course credit, the final exam
should be written in a form that is grammatically correct and has proper
punctuation, spelling, etc. While grammar and spelling will not be graded per se,
writing poorly and carelessly will impact clarity and undermine in all likelihood
the intent to be understood in what you are writing. Proof-read and spell-and-
grammar check your work, which is easily done in Word and other word processing
software programs.
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS & DUE DATE: Submit your examination answers
in Canvas. The Canvas submission link will only be available until the due date; it
will unavailable after the due date. Email submissions are not accepted, even if done
on time by the due date. Exam submissions before the due date are welcome. The
exam answers are due no later than Tuesday, May 7, by 3:00 p.m. (early exam
Canvas submissions are welcome). Late exams will not be accepted unless it is
the result of an excuse in accordance with the syllabus and University
academic policies.
Good luck!
Constitutional Law: Civil Rights & Liberties POL 40183-01/Spring 2024
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First question
This question must be answered
In this course, we considered one assigned required textbook (Barnett and Blackman,
An Introduction to Constitutional Law, 2nd ed.) and other non-textbook assigned
readings, including books, articles, weblinks, judicial opinions and related videos.
Also, as per the syllabus, the course learning goals and outcomes are listed as follows:
a) to help students learn and refine their understanding of the U.S. Supreme Court as
a political institution; b) to understand why the Court decides political disputes
between government institutions and citizens; and c) to gain a sophisticated
appreciation for the Supreme Court’s history, significance, and impact in safeguarding
civil rights and liberties. Other goals include d) encouraging students to think
critically, and e) to articulate complex legal, social, or policy arguments with cultural
implications.
Using and citing specifically and appropriately to the textbook and/or the non-
textbook assigned readings in Modules 1 to 4 used in this course, explain how
any or all of the course learning goals and outcomes were achieved for you as a
student in this course relative to each specific assigned reading/s you discuss. The
failure to do so will diminish the grade for this grading weight in the course.
• Suggestion: In answering this question, using the Module 1 to 4 themes (e.g.
Module 1, Institutional Politics of the U.S. Supreme Court; Module 2, Interpreting
(and Incorporation of) the Bill of Rights; and so forth) begin with a thesis
statement in the first paragraph that addresses what will be said in the
subsequent paragraphs, as support for the thesis statement. Then, using the
textbook and/or non-textbook assigned readings in one (or more paragraphs),
explain how they achieved at least one or more listed above learning goal/s and
outcome/s, in the successive paragraphs. If this suggestion is adopted, in theory
your essay can be limited to as few as five paragraphs:
First paragraph: Introduction and thesis statement
Second paragraph: Institutional Politics of the U.S. Supreme Court/learning
goal/s and outcome/s achieved
Third paragraph: Interpreting (and Incorporation of) the Bill of
Rights/learning goal/s and outcome/s achieved
Fourth paragraph: Applied Judicial Politics of Constitutional Decision-
Making /learning goal/s and outcome/s achieved
Fifth paragraph: Bench Memo Experiential Learning Exercise /learning
goal/s and outcome/s achieved.
• Note: if you follow the suggestion, more than one paragraph can be used to explain
the (any of the) assigned readings’ contribution to your learning with separate
thoughts (by you). If that is the case in your response, the essay will be longer, and
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more than five paragraphs; but be mindful of your writing structure/organization,
and the examination page limits, as specified above.
• If you do not address each of the four Modules, with corresponding references to
the required textbook and/or other non-textbook assigned readings in your answer,
your final grade is likely to be diminished substantially.
Second or Third Questions
One of these two questions, number two or three, but not both, must be answered
Second Question
If you had to explain to someone who is not familiar with courts or what the U.S.
Supreme Court does, how would you explain to them how the U.S. Supreme Court
operates in regard to the concept of “judicial philosophy” (i.e. the different ways
Justices intellectually approach interpreting the U.S. Constitution in specific types of
constitutional law cases)?
Use at least three examples in specific types of constitutional law cases to support
your discussion of what that concept is and why it is important to the study of civil
rights and liberties.
Please explain fully.
NOTE: Do not use the same case examples you discussed in Question No. 1.
Third Question
What is the “counter-majoritarian difficulty” and why is that concept significant to the
study of civil rights and liberties?
Use at least three examples in specific types of constitutional law cases to support
your discussion of what that concept is and why it is important to the study of civil
rights and libertie
