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Political Science 206 |
Fall 1999 |
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Professor: Kimberly Smith |
Willis 418 |
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Phone: x-4123 |
Email: ksmith@carleton.edu |
In this course, we consider courts as political institutions. Our central question is whether or in what sense legal decision making is "political" - that is, whether or in what sense what goes on in the courtroom is anything other than judges making policy according to their own policy preferences. We'll take a close look at how judges make decisions (and how lawyers make arguments) and at the logical, social and institutional factors that constrain their discretion. We'll also consider whether or how courts can be used to effect significant political change.
Course requirements: There will be no exams. Your grade will be computed as follows:
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Two papers = |
35% each (You may rewrite your paper as often as you like, for a new grade.) |
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Assignments & class participation = |
30% |
***Final rewrites due: Wednesday March 15, at 2:00
***Readings should be completed prior to class
Texts
Levi, An Introduction to Legal Reasoning
Frank Murphy, Courts, Judges and Politics
Rosenberg, The Hollow Hope (optional, on reserve)
***additional readings in coursepack and on reserve***
Course Outline
Week 1: Introduction: Law vs. Politics, Law vs. Democracy
Murphy, Ch. 14 (pp. 598-645)Widner, Building Judicial Independence in Common Law Africa
· Assignment: Judicial independence exercise
Week 2: Reasoning from Cases
Murphy, Ch. 10 (pp. 389-430)Levi, pp. 1-27
Note, The Common Law Origins of the Infield Fly Rule [R]
Week 3: Reasoning from Statutes
Murphy, Ch. 11 (pp. 431-478)Levi, pp. 27-57
· Assignment: TVA scenario, 2-3 pp.
Week 4: Constitutional Interpretation
Murphy, Ch. 12 (pp. 479-547)Levi, 57-104
Fish, Working on the Chain Gang [R]
Week 5: The Judge's Role
Murphy, Ch. 1, 13 (pp. 14-18, 548-596)· Assignment: Brief the Bob Jones Case, 3-4 pp.
Week 6: The Legal Community
Pacific Gas & Electric v. Thomas Drayage & R. Co., 442 P.2d 641 (1968)Delta Dynamics, Inc. v. Arioto, 446 P.2d 785 (1968)
Trident Center v. Connecticut General Life Ins. Co., 847 F.2d 564 (9th Cir. 1988)
Wice, Judges and Lawyers (pp. 34-47, 52-62) [R]
Week 7: Institutional Structure: Appointment
Murphy, Ch. 4 (pp. 133-180)Carter, The Confirmation Mess
CQ, Clinton Closes in on a Nominee
SF Chronicle & LA Times articles
· Assignment: Fletcher and White confirmations, 3-4 pp.
Week 8: Institutional Structure: Execution
Murphy, Ch. 6, 7 (pp. 243-318)Rosenberg, The Hollow Hope, pp. 1-106
Week 9: Using the Courts to Achieve Policy Change
Murphy, Ch. 8 (pp. 319-350)McCann, Taking Reform Seriously (pp. 106-121) [R]
Galanter, Why the "Haves" Come Out Ahead (pp. 199-211) [R]
Brill, Trial By Jury (pp. 418-448) [R]
Scheingold, The Contradictions of Radical Law Practice
· Assignment: Compare Rosenberg and McCann, 2-3 pp.