3645 - When Precedent Breaks: Roe, Dobbs, and the Politics of Constitutional Interpretation (Paul Zwier)
Course Description
Instructor: Paul Zwier
This course uses Roe v. Wade and Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization as a lens to study competing theories of constitutional interpretation. Through close readings of the majority, concurring, and dissenting opinions, participants will examine how originalism, living constitutionalism, substantive due process, textualism, and doctrines of stare decisis shape the justices’ approaches to abortion, privacy, and liberty. The course emphasizes analytical skills: identifying the interpretive commitments behind each opinion, comparing their treatment of history and precedent and evaluating their implications for the Court’s role in a democratic system. The goal is not to resolve the abortion debate, but to understand how methodological choices drive constitutional outcomes.
Bio: Paul J. Zwier is a lawyer and author, retired Professor of Law, and Director of the Advocacy Skills Program, and Director of the Program for International Advocacy and Dispute Resolution at Emory University, while also serving as Of Counsel at Guttman, Buschner & Brooks. Zwier is known for his work
in advocacy, negotiation, and mediation skills training, with a focus on legal training for lawyers, torts law, evidence, and case studies regarding international affairs. He is the author of several books including Critical Race Theory and the Struggle at the Heart of Legal Education, Principled Negotiation on an International Stage, Critical Race Theory and the American Justice System, and Effective Expert Testimony. Among numerous honors, he was awarded the Distinguished Educator award by the University of Richmond in 1991and the Honorable Prentice Marshall Faculty Award by National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) in 1998. Zwier has conducted training sessions for judges and lawyers at international criminal courts such as the ICC, ICTY, ICTR, and ICT-Sierra Leone,[4] and has provided advocacy skills instruction for legal firms and institutions worldwide, spanning countries such as China, Russia, Mexico, Ecuador, Liberia, Kenya, and Georgia. He also led seminars on negotiation and conflict resolution for black South African lawyers within the framework of a 1999 initiative by the State Department.