-
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
(ADMINISTRATIVE LAW & GOV'T REG - 1000)
(3 credits)
This course explores the administrative process in executive and independent regulatory agencies with emphasis on judicial review. Consideration is given to the powers vested in administrative bodies and to the constitutional, statutory and other legal limitations on agency decision making. Grades are based upon a final examination.
-
CHILDREN AND THE LAW SEMINAR
(INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS - 1090)
(2 credits)
This seminar examines the legal status, rights, and obligations and the allocation of power among the child, the family, and the state in contemporary society. Topics covered include the right to education, parental choice and public school curriculum, the speech rights of minors, reproductive decision-making, medical care, the unique concerns of infancy and adolescence, child abuse and neglect, and the termination of parental rights. The approach used weaves case law together with legal and cross- disciplinary readings that underscore the connections among doctrine, policy, and data. While the focus is on the United States, supplementary materials including the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child encourage students to place the issues in national and global perspective. The final grade is based on class participation, problem-based assignments, and preparation and presentation of a final research paper of substantial scholarly merit, minimum 30 pages in length including notes.
-
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW I
(CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - 1040)
(3 credits)
This course examines broad themes of federalism and separation of powers and introduces students to the study of individual rights. Topics covered include judicial review, standing, mootness, political question doctrine, commerce clause powers and constraints on the states, taxing and spending powers, privileges and immunities, preemption doctrine, state autonomy, powers and limits of executive authority, the "takings" clause, the post-Civil War amendments, incorporation theory, and procedural and substantive due process. Grades are based upon a final examination.
-
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW II
(CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - 1050)
(3 credits)
This course examines the protections to individual rights afforded by the Bill of Rights. The emphasis is on the First and Fourteenth Amendments, including the various doctrines developed under freedom of speech and of the press, freedom of religion and the establishment clause, as well as the range of protections afforded under the equal protection clause with regard to race, alienage, age, non-marital children, gender, disability, sexual orientation, and fundamental rights as well as state action doctrine and congressional power to enact legislation. Grades are based upon a final examination.
-
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS SEMINAR
(CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - 1010)
(2 credits)
This seminar explores current important areas of constitutional law, with particular attention to the judicial protection of individual rights, including free speech, free press, religious freedom, privacy and gender-based discrimination. The seminar format permits analysis of these topics of expanding interest in greater depth than in the basic course. The areas discussed may vary somewhat in emphasis from one semester to another, depending in part on current decisions of the courts and in part on students' choices in selecting topics for their papers. Each student will prepare a paper of law review quality on a topic approved by the faculty member conducting the seminar. Grades are based upon a paper and course participation.
-
LOCAL GOVERNMENT LAW
(ADMINISTRATIVE LAW & GOV'T REG - 1030)
(2 credits)
This course represents a comprehensive study of the organization, structure, and functions of local units of government. The course covers state-local and federal-city relations; municipal financing; the municipal decision-making process and the related roles of the people, neighborhoods, officials, and courts; home rule, the scope and limits of municipal services and powers; the status and accountability of officers and employees; the use and ownership of public property; tort liability; and land-use regulation. Grades are based upon a research paper.