This is a two-semester seminar, although students may take either semester separately. It is designed to introduce students to the study of public law-- a subfield of political science that focuses on the relationships between law and politics, and between politics and the design, behavior, and impact of legal institutions. Fall Semester readings, drawing on comparative as well as American studies, focus on the political sources of the rule of law, judicial independence and constitutional courts; typologies of legal systems and legal institutions; explaining variation in the role of courts in governance; studies of decisionmaking by judges and other legal decision-makers; and studies of the capacity of law and courts to affect policy and social change. In the course of addressing these topics, the seminar will familiarize students with prominent approaches to research and explanation in public law.
The Spring semester focuses on the ways in which constitutional interpretation and judicial decision-making shapes and constrains political behavior, political thought and the development of political institutions in the United States and how those in turn influence judicial choices. The semester starts with the institutional setting and structure of the U.S. Supreme Court, examines both empirical and normative theories of constitutional decision-making, and the role the Court and Court decisions have played in American political development. The Course closely examines the Court's role in maintaining and defining the scope of national power, and the role of the States in the federal system, closely studying the struggles over the meaning and scope of the Commerce Clause, the Court's treatment of property rights and economic liberties before turning to the 14^th Amendment and individual rights, struggles over equal protection, the due process revolution and questions of personal autonomy. The Seminar then examines the struggle for power within the national government, examining the horizontal separation of powers with particular emphasis on foreign policy, emergency and war powers.
Legal Institutions, (R. Kag*n)
Law and Modern Social Thought (D. Lieb*rman)
Law and Modern Social Thought surveys leading attempts to construct social theories of law and to use legal materials for social theorizing, during the period from the mid-eighteenth century to the early twentieth century. While many figures are read and treated, the theorists receiving most attention are: Maine, Marx, Durkheim and Weber.
Citizenship and Pluralism (S. S*ng)
This course examines the concept of citizenship—-its history, substance, location, and scope—-and its relationship to national, subnational, and supranational memberships. We will explore how different conceptions of citizenship address the challenges raised by both global and local pressures. Questions to be pursued include: In a world of increasingly de-territorialized politics, what justifies retaining nation-state borders? Are other group affiliations, such as ethnicity, conducive to democratic citizenship or an obstacle to it? What assumptions about sovereignty, territory, state unity, and individual agency underlie various recent efforts by political theorists to come to terms with the ramifications of late modern diversities and global capitalism for democratic citizenship? Do debates about cultural pluralism work to obscure other important differences or inequalities, such as sex and class? What are the sources of citizen solidarity? Is such solidarity important? What, if anything, can justify differential treatment of citizens and noncitizens, including legal and undocumented immigrants?
Regulation of the Legal Profession (P. Hanl*n)
This 3-unit, P/R satisfying class, examines the legal rules governing the right to practice law and their relationship to lawyers’ other obligations under the law or imposed by their broader ethics as human beings and members of society. The class will also focus on specific modes of practice, including public interest and contingency fee lawyering as well as practice in law firms, and the characteristic problems that tend to arise in different settings. Students can choose between (i) taking an inc-class exam with a choice among several essay questions or (ii) writing a 25-page paper on the legal profession or legal ethics. Students who have taken Course 210 may not receive credit for this course.
The assigned text will be Stephen Gillers, Regulation of Lawyers (Seventh Edition). You will need a copy of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the California Rules of Professional Conduct, which you can obtain in the Statutes and Standards volume prepared by Gillers and Roy D. Simon (or other similar books), download yourself, of obtain from me by e-mail.
Tort Reform and Its Critics (P. Hanl*n)
This 2-credit seminar examines the theory and practice of 30 years of tort reform. Since the late 1970s, there has emerged a conservative theory of the tort system, based on the proposition that there is a litigation explosion in the United States, driven by greedy and unscrupulous trial lawyers, which threatens the competitiveness of American business at home and abroad. On the basis of that theory, conservative tort reformers have succeeded in obtaining changes in the law in many states that restrict the right of injured people to recover from those who injure them. This course will consider the debate between tort reformers and critics of the tort reform “myth,” the emergence of political and public relations components to defense-oriented litigation strategies, the complex connections between tort reform ideas and what actually happens in the courts, and what all of this has meant for the operation of the tort system and the quality of civil justice. Students will have the opportunity to lead classes based on their research papers and to discuss one another’s research. This course may be used to satisfy the writing requirement.
Exam Notes: P
Workshop in Law, Philosophy & Political Theory (E. Rak*wski, S. Scheffl*r)
This seminar provides an opportunity for students to engage with the work of leading scholars in moral, legal, and political theory. Each week a distinguished visitor will present a manuscript, usually of work in progress. On Tuesdays, students will meet with the professors for a preliminary discussion of the paper, having written short comments on the work prior to the session. On Thursdays, the authors will present their work to the class. These sessions are open to the public and are occasions for a vigorous discussion of the work. Students are responsible for writing two 10-page papers and short reaction pieces to 9 of the 12 manuscripts discussed in class.
Interested students should attend the first class on January 15 at 2:20 in the JSP Seminar Room (2240 Piedmont Ave.). The instructors will decide who will be admitted after the first class meeting. In past years, all interested students were able to enroll.
Exam Notes: P+
Legal Ethics in Trial Practice (J. Ste*le)
This three-credit, PR-credit-satisfying, no prerequisite, no-disqualifying-prior-courses, non-writing-credit, seminar-style class, limited to 24 students selected by the instructor, will address legal ethics in trial practice. Using readings and drawing upon the students' experiences in mock trial competition teams, we will explore the relationship between truth and forensic rhetoric and will examine how the rules of professional conduct apply to trial lawyers. Students will need a copy of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Readings will include excerpts from Plato's Gorgias and Phaedrus, Aristotle's Rhetoric, and Janet Malcom's The Crime of Sheila McGough. Priority in enrollment will be given to (i) 3Ls who are on Boalt mock trial competition teams; (ii) 2Ls on Boalt's mock trial competition teams; and (iii) other students with a demonstrated commitment to trial practice. Students will be evaluated on class participation and a ten-page final paper.
Exam Notes: P
Special Notes: A,PR
Foundation Seminar in Law and Society (C. Alb*ston)
The sociology of law treats law as a social institution. In contrast to legal formalist approaches that assume the impartiality and autonomy of law, or jurisprudential approaches that examine the morality of law, sociological studies of law examine the relation of legal institutions and actors to social structure. This seminar will cover classic and contemporary literature on topics such as: the capacity of law to produce social change; the relation of law to race, class, and gender; the social construction of disputes and dispute resolution; organizations and law; legal pluralism; legal consciousness; and social movements and law. Graduate students in all disciplines are welcome.
Exam Notes: P
