Kammer, Sean, Reflections on Teaching Constitutional Law in the Midst of Constitutional Crisis (September 13, 2021). South Dakota Law Review, Vol. 67, No. 2, 2022, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3923105

“The events of Jan. 6, 2021 at the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. brought the U.S. Constitution to the forefront of the minds of citizens across the nation. For law students beginning a Spring 2021 Constitutional Law course on this very day, the typical “first day” abstract hypothetical was supplanted by the very real and imminent crisis, and the term was sent on an unforeseen trajectory. This essay reflects upon the experience of teaching Constitutional Law in an era of compelling challenges to the American legal order. The teaching of Constitutional Law in today’s climate, the author concludes, must foster a discussion beyond the text of the Constitution and letter of the case law, including frank conversations about the government branches’ and individual actors’ roles in enforcing constitutional principles and ideals, as well as an understanding of the social context and political landscape in which what we refer to as “Constitutional Law” lives and breathes.”