September 23, 2010

POS 282--Introduction to American Law
In class today, Thursday, 9/23, we finished going over the case of Lawrence v. Texas. We looked at the flow chart of "fundamental" personal interests and "legitimate" governmental interests, the treatment of precedent such as the Casey case, and the use of "morality" in making law. I also discussed three recent decisions of lower courts that looked to Lawrence in their treatment of various gay rights issues: Perry v. Schwarzenegger, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78817 (gay marriage); Log Cabin Republicans v. Gates, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93612 (don't ask, don't tell); and Florida Department of Children and Families v. In re: Matter of Adoption of X.X.G., 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 14014 (gay adoptions). We will continue with Connecticut v. Doe (previously assigned) next Tuesday. The additional assignment for Tuesday 9/28 is to read the rest of Chapter One of the text. Then write out (to be handed in, but not graded) a case brief of the case of Katko v. Briney p. 47. Follow the case brief template that was previously distributed.