{"id":13521,"date":"2015-11-16T19:58:51","date_gmt":"2015-11-17T00:58:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/?page_id=13521"},"modified":"2026-04-07T10:34:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:34:42","slug":"civil-rights-constitutional-law","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/academics\/explore-your-options\/civil-rights-constitutional-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Civil Rights &#038; Constitutional Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/academics\/areas-of-study\/civil-rights-constitutional-law\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Civil rights and constitutional law<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> are two of the most dynamic and challenging legal practice areas in the United States. Generally, constitutional law encompasses the governmental structure, conferred powers, and protected rights delineated in the US Constitution. But questions about <\/span><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">who<\/span><\/i><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> holds power and <\/span><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">whose<\/span><\/i><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> rights are protected have dominated American society for centuries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">BU Law has been ranked #19 in the nation for constitutional law by <em>U.S. News &amp; World Report<\/em>. In our program, courses covering traditional legal topics such as constitutional history and theory, federalism, and judicial review are offered alongside those that examine legal frameworks through the lens of social identity and social movements. Students can take classes that compare US constitutional law to the constitutional law of other countries; delve deeper into the Fourteenth Amendment\u2019s promise of due process and equal protection; or study transgender law, feminist jurisprudence, critical race theory, or free expression in the digital age.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span aria-label=\"Rich text content control paragraph\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">They can also apply what they\u2019re learning in experiential opportunities such as the <\/span><span aria-label=\"Rich text content control\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/current-students\/jd-student-resources\/experiential-learning\/clinics\/policy-drafting-clinic\/\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Legislative Policy &amp; Drafting Clinic<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, which has <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/articles\/2022\/why-the-crown-act-is-needed\/\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">worked on anti-discrimination bills in the past<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">; and internships with state and federal judges who engage with constitutional questions that arise in the cases before them<\/span><\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. And they do all this in Boston, a city at the heart of American history <\/span><span aria-label=\"Rich text content control\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">in a state whose Constitution\u2013<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/teachingamericanhistory.org\/document\/massachusetts-declaration-of-rights-and-constitution\/\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">which included a Declaration of Rights\u2013became a model for the U.S. Constitution several years later<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. Boston has <\/span><\/span><span aria-label=\"Rich text content control\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">been a battleground for many <\/span><\/span><span aria-label=\"Rich text content control\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">of <\/span><\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">the country\u2019s civil rights movements<\/span><span aria-label=\"Rich text content control\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, including abolition, gay marriage, and school desegregation<\/span><\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span aria-label=\"Rich text content control\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">LLM students can choose from the civil rights and constitutional law courses in the JD Program and also are introduced to some of these topics through their <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/academics\/llm-masters-degrees\/american-law\/llm-only-courses\/\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">survey of US Constitutional law<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Civil rights and constitutional law are two of the most dynamic and challenging legal practice [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10885,"featured_media":109028,"parent":89808,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"bu-landing","meta":[],"bu-publication":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13521"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10885"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13521"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124246,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13521\/revisions\/124246"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/89808"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=13521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}