Study

A study of the basic rules of criminal procedure, beginning with the institution of formal proceedings. Subjects to be covered include prosecutorial discretion, the preliminary hearing, the grand jury, criminal discovery, guilty pleas and plea bargaining, jury selection, pretrial publicity, double jeopardy, the right to counsel, and professional ethics in criminal cases.

This course uses consumer bankruptcy as a lens to study the role of consumer credit in the U.S. economy and society. The class will focus on the key aspects of the consumer bankruptcy system, including who files bankruptcy, what causes bankruptcy, the consequences of bankruptcy, and the operation of the bankruptcy system. We will discuss each of these issues in the larger context of consumer debt and consumer law, and will also cover the foreclosure crisis, student loans, and issues related to debt, race, and gender. The readings will come from law and non-law sources, including the work of a variety of social scientists.

Due to substantive overlap in material, students may not concurrently enroll in Law 288: Consumer Bankruptcy & Debt and Law 586: Current Debates in Bankruptcy Law. However, if you've taken one of the courses in a previous semester and wish to take the other, that will be permitted. Students may not enroll in both Law 288: Consumer Bankruptcy & Debt and Law 555: Law and Financial Anxiety without instructor permission. 

This course will examine the practices and powers of American appellate courts, with a particular emphasis on the federal courts of appeals.  Our discussion will focus on the goals of these institutions and the extent to which individual components of the appellate decision-making process—including oral argument and opinion-writing—further those goals.

We will begin with an overview of the function of appellate courts—why they were created and what we expect of them today.  We will then move to the specific components of appellate adjudication, including mediation, briefing, oral argument, and judgment, as well as the personnel who contribute to the adjudication process.  Finally, we will consider the ways in which the appellate courts have been affected by an increasing caseload, and proposals for alleviating the strain on the courts.

Ultimately, the goal of the course is to expose you to how appellate courts operate and the purported goals of these institutions.  Over the course of the semester, you should also be evaluating what you think are the fundamental objectives of appellate review and whether the current structure of the courts allows them to meet those goals.

Evaluation in the course will be based on a final research paper, which may be used to satisfy the SRWP.

This survey course examines the legal and policy issues governing water quality and resource allocation in the United States. Students will be introduced to both the Prior Appropriation systems of the western United States and the Reasonable Use systems dominating the eastern states. We will study key laws that affect water quality and quantity, including the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and others.  Students will also explore emerging issues in water policy, including the regulation of "forever chemicals," protection of wetlands, and mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, among other policy issues.  Throughout the course, students will study how environmental justice relates to water resource management.

This course will examine a number of topics related to the law of animals, including various issues that arise under the laws of property, contracts, torts, and trusts and estates. It will also examine various criminal law issues and constitutional law questions. The class will consider such issues as the definition of "animal" as applicable to anti-cruelty statutes, the collection of damages for harm to animals, establishing standing for animal suits, first amendment protections, and the nuances of various federal laws.

This course will explore the relationship between gender and the law, understanding gender in its broadest sense including sex, sexuality, gender identity, and gender queerness. It will focus on sex discrimination doctrines under the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution as well as under federal and state statutory frameworks such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, and cognate state statutes. It will also address the shifting scope of substantive due process doctrine, particularly given the recent Supreme Court Dobbs opinion. Attention will be paid to the recently argued Skrmetti case challenging a state law prohibiting health care for transgender minors with an eye towards its impact on future gender and LGBTQ+ law and policy. Other statutes such as the Americans with Disabilities Act will also be explored. Constitutional Law is highly recommended as a prerequisite.

The course will center around legal case studies to evaluate the relationship between law and justice in many areas that affect gender minority lives, including: employment, schools, health care, prison, public accommodations, family, youth and aging, and beyond. The emphasis will be on social justice lawyering strategies and the possibilities and limits that litigation, legislation, and policy developments present for work in these areas. The class will consider ways in which different federal administrations impact the work, as well as the relationship between law and policy. Some film is used in class. Evaluation is by an end-of-term, untimed, open book examination, as well as 3 reaction papers assigned throughout the class. Other individual or group projects may also be required. Engaged student discussion and open-mindedness to new, different, and challenging ideas is invited and valued.

This course is designed to provide students with a working knowledge of the major areas of interface between psychiatry and law. Basic concepts of clinical psychiatry and psychopathology will be highlighted throughout the course. The attorney and the psychiatrist roles in the commitment process, right to treatment and right to refuse treatment, competency to stand trial, and criminal responsibility will be explored using a number of methods. Discussion of assigned readings, short lectures, interviews and observation of patients involved in legal proceedings, films, guest speakers, and field trips will form the basis of the course. The students will periodically be asked to use the information from the course together with independent and group research to complete short projects and class exercises.

This two-credit course is available to students who have participated in one semester in the First Amendment Law clinic and wish to participate for a second semester. Students may enroll only with approval of the Director of the Clinic.. Students enrolled in Advanced Clinical Studies are required to participate fully in the case work portion of the clinic, performing 100-120 hours of client representation work, but will not be required to attend the class sessions.

Critical race theory (CRT), a scholarly movement that began in the 1980s, challenges both the substance and style of conventional legal scholarship.  Substantively, critical race scholars (“race crits”) reject formal equality, a heavy focus on individual rights, and color-blind approaches to solving legal problems.  Stylistically, race crits often employ new methodologies for legal scholarship, including storytelling and narrative.  This course introduces CRT’s core principles and explores its possibilities and limitations.  With emphasis on writings that shaped the movement, the course will examine the following concepts and theories: storytelling, interest convergence, the social construction of race, the myth of the model minority, intersectionality and anti-essentialism, working identity, covering, whiteness and white privilege, colorblindness, microaggressions, and implicit bias.  Students will apply these theories and frameworks to cases and topics dealing with, among other things, voting rights, educational access, affirmative action, employment discrimination, immigration, and criminal disparities and inequities.  The course affords students an opportunity to examine the ways in which racism, sexism, classism, and heterosexism are inextricably interwoven as well as an opportunity to challenge critically our most basic assumptions about race, law, and justice.  All students enrolling in the seminar must attend the first class.

This seminar will explore three intersecting issues relating to democracy, markets, and the rule of law.  First,  we will consider whether and how democracy needs the rule of law for stability and legitimacy.  Second, we will consider how far law can help to constitute and maintain the conditions of relatively stable and vital democracy.  Third, we will explore the relationship of a market economy to a democratic political order that maintains the rule of law. Readings will be drawn from classic treatments of these issues as well as contemporary scholarship. Can satisfy SRWP with Law 508W add-on credit.

This seminar focuses on lawyers working in the criminal justice system and law enforcement. Through historical and practical considerations of policing in the U.S., existing and proposed legislation, articles, and opinions, the course will work to deepen students’ understanding of some of the intricacies of police accountability and transparency.  After beginning with foundational concepts on policing, the course then delves into some of the specific legal issues relating to police accountability and transparency in the United States, such as reporting misconduct, internal investigations, internal disciplinary processes, the process and challenges of prosecuting police, and the interplay between local governmental entities and prosecutorial offices. Students who took Law 611.59, Readings: Police Accountability may not take this course.

Parental rights and responsibilities are among the most prominent “culture wars” issues in the United States today. To understand them and the contest between parents and the state over how children are raised, it is necessary to examine the key constitutional decisions in the three areas that have seen the most legal intervention over the years: education, religion, and medicine. In doing so, we learn that this contest isn’t new and fealty to the doctrine isn’t partisan proposition. We also learn how the current iterations of the contest between parents and the state – over race and gender in the curriculum of the public schools, religious exemptions to Covid-related mandates, and gender affirming medical care – simultaneously reflect and press some of the assumptions in the earlier cases. This will be a small discussion course. Reading will be primarily of Supreme Court cases—there are no materials to purchase. Students will be graded based on careful preparation, regular substantive participation, and a final exam.

In this seminar, we will read social science research to examine the empirical assumptions of rules, systems, and practices of criminal law and procedure. We will cover a series of empirical questions, which may include: (1) Does stop and frisk policing reduce crime? (2) Can body cameras change police behavior? (3) Does the death penalty deter? (4) Are there alternatives to incarceration that can keep us safe? (5) Is there racial disparity in sentencing, and if there is, what can we do about it? (6) What is the right age of majority to separate the juvenile and adult justice systems?

While some background in social science and statistics may be helpful, it is not a requirement for the course. Students will be evaluated based on class participation and a series of reaction papers. Students will also be asked to lead discussion of some of the readings.

This research seminar will involve discussing some of the latest research at the intersection of the fields of law and social science. Over the semester, we will host outside speakers presenting cutting-edge interdisciplinary work involving a variety of methods, including quantitative, qualitative, and experimental.  Topics will cover both public and private law subjects.  We will read introductory material to better understand the relevant social science methods. Students will be asked to prepare, in advance, short and critical reaction papers of the speakers’ work, including both the methodology and contributions of the research.  The requirements for the class are completion of the reaction papers and active participation in the seminar discussions. There will be one class meeting each week. On dates that speakers are invited, the class will meet at lunch.

Is bankruptcy broken?  For some years, many academics and practitioners have argued that the nation's business and consumer bankruptcy systems are outdated or otherwise not fit for their intended purpose.  The course will examine selected topics in bankruptcy law relating to this theme (but focusing most heavily on chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code).  Key reading materials will include recent major reports proposing reforms to bankruptcy law, as well as excerpts from the scholarship and leading judicial decisions.  We will consider questions including: what is bankruptcy for? Is it simply a procedural remedy for enforcing substantive rights that exist independent of the bankruptcy case, or an opportunity more fairly to redistribute assets (or losses)? Is bankruptcy special?  Should be Bankruptcy Code be read like any other statute, or do we need special principles for bankruptcy law, and broad equitable powers for bankruptcy courts, to encourage businesses and consumers to reorganize?  We will use case studies like the Purdue Pharma opioid-crisis bankruptcy to assess this.  In the final, consumer bankruptcy component of the course, we will grapple with the reality that most consumer reorganizations are unsuccessful and consider whether the current system strikes the appropriate balance between debtors’ rights and creditors’ protection. 

We will begin each topic by covering the relevant features of bankruptcy law, and you do not need to have taken a bankruptcy class to take this seminar. The objective of the seminar is to provide insight and into and allow for debate of bankruptcy theory and policy; in the process, we will consider the extent to which abstract theories of bankruptcy hold up in the real world, and the topics we cover will include issues of pressing interest to current bankruptcy practitioners. 

Students will be required to participate in class discussions. Students may complete either a series of reflection papers examining the reading materials and topics discussed, or one longer 25-30 page paper designed to satisfy the SRWP. 

Due to substantive overlap in material, students may not concurrently enroll in Law 288: Consumer Bankruptcy & Debt and Law 586: Current Debates in Bankruptcy Law. However, if you've taken one of the courses in a previous semester and wish to take the other, that will be permitted. 

Issues in the legal regulation of human sexuality and gender identity are contested to varying degrees worldwide. Taking a global, comparative, and interdisciplinary approach to the investigation of the legal regulation of human sexuality and gender identity, this course uses case-studies to examine the cultural and religious, as well as the political and jurisprudential foundations of court decisions, laws, and regulations.

Much of the mainstream dialogue regarding medicine, technological advances, and healthcare has relied on the premise of fairness and equality. However, this is not the entire story. Many of the advancements we take for granted were produced at the expense of racially marginalized individuals. Though these challenges can feel insurmountable, we have the tools to develop solutions. The goal of this course is to teach students the shared history of racism in medicine and to empower them to address these disparities through bioethics and the law. The course will cover historical bioethical incidents that shaped racially marginalized individuals’ relationships with healthcare and science. It will also examine healthcare, bioethics, and the law through the lens of racially marginalized peoples and anti-Blackness in law and policy. Lastly, it will also cover various approaches to integrating anti-racist principles into the practice of law.

“Access to justice” (sometimes denominated “A2J”) is a multidimensional concept that eludes easy definition. This course will use the term expansively, to capture the ways in which our civil legal system does or does not respond to the legal needs of ordinary people.
This course will examine the structural obstacles that impede access to civil justice as well as contemporary opportunities for reform. Access barriers can have a variety of sources. Barriers can be doctrinal (e.g., the civil right to counsel), practical (e.g., courts’ ability to accommodate non-English-speaking litigants), economic (e.g., the rise of binding arbitration), or political (e.g., limited funding for legal aid offices), and nearly all are multifactorial. Similarly, opportunities for improvement can be found in doctrine, institutional design, community engagement, and technology. Compared to a course on substantive law, our focus will be on the institutional, procedural, and practical dimensions of the access problem.

The course will be divided into roughly three components. In Part I, we will consider theories and doctrines of civil legal access. In Part II, we will consider institutional and procedural features that shape access to our civil legal system, as well as the roles of different actors and constituencies in the civil justice system, including: lawyers and the legal profession; self-represented litigants; community organizations; courts; and non-judicial government institutions. In Part III, we will consider a handful of “pressure points” in access to civil justices—that is, areas of the law where legal needs are especially significant, and where access is especially challenging. Among the areas will consider will be family law, housing law, consumer law and consumer bankruptcy, and immigration law. Solutions and opportunities for change will be discussed throughout all three parts of the course.

Students will be evaluated on the basis of class participation, four response papers and a research proposal.

During the past 40 years, environmental litigation in the federal courts of the United States has played an important role in shaping our quality of life.  Federal statutes designed to improve air and water quality, manage waste, protect species, and establish rules for the management of ocean resources have spawned numerous federal cases – some filed by affected industry, some by the government, and others filed by conservation groups and private citizens.  The resulting precedents affect many aspects of the environment in which we live.

This course introduces students to the progression of a hypothetical environmental case in United States federal courts.  The course begins with the appearance of a potential client, addresses several considerations relevant to a decision whether to file a complaint, examines discovery planning and execution, studies the preparation of dispositive motions, and concludes with an overview of the appeal process.  The course assumes that the hypothetical case will be decided on motions for summary judgment or for injunctive relief.  Therefore, class discussions focus on the manner in which such a case unfolds, with particular attention to developing both the facts and the theory of the case, framing pleadings, and designing and managing discovery.  The course explores these subjects from the perspective of counsel for defendants as well as for plaintiffs.  Students should emerge from the course better equipped to handle various practical aspects of litigation.

Only Law students may take this course for a grade.  Non-Law students may be added as auditors if space remains available after drop add.

This seminar explores exchanges and transactions that are morally contested and considers whether the markets supporting morally contested transactions should be allowed to function like “regular” markets. Thus, we will consider not only whether the markets for egg donation, abortion services, infant formula, and organs, among others, should exist, but also consider whether the state should seek to ensure that those markets are functioning competitively, to the benefit of consumers and workers. Students will discuss cases and reading selections from law, economics, philosophy, psychology, and sociology.