January 17, 2008

POS 282--Introduction to American Law
In class today, Thursday 1/17, we finished our discussion of Virginia v. Moore, and also added another recent case in the same line of cases, Atwater v. Lago Vista. We discussed a number of legal concepts, including following v. distinguishing precedent; the bases of federal jurisdiction; and citation form for caselaw. We began our discussion of AAC v, Dearborn. I distributed two handouts, one an excerpt from the Bangor parade ordinance, and the other, my version of the holdings of AAC v. Dearborn. The assignment for Tuesday 1/22 is to 1) finish reading chapter one of the text; 2)review the Bangor Ordinance and decide if you think that it is constitutional under the test announced in the AAC case; and 3)compare my version of the AAC holdings with the sample holdings on p. 26 of the text.

CMJ 375--Mass Media Law
In class today, Thursday 1/17, we continued our discussion of Bartnicki v. Vopper. At the end of the class period I also introduced another case regarding interception of cellphone conversation, Boehner v. McDermott. We'll continue with that case next week. The assignment for Tuesday 1/22 is to read through p.57 of the textbook.