September 7, 2010

POS 282--Introduction to American Law
In class today, Tuesday 9/7, I distributed two handouts, one my Sample Brief of the AAC v. Dearborn case, and the other, excerpts from the Augusta and Bangor parade Ordinances. I began today by discussing the program that the class will watch on Thursday, a history of the 14th Amendment from the end of the Civil War to the time of the New Deal under FDR. Look for issues of Judicial power versus Legislative power, federal power versus state power, and individual rights versus corporate rights. We went over some of the history of the interpretation of the 14th Amendment's three major clauses, Privileges and Immunities, Due Process, and Equal Protection, as well as the doctrine of Incorporation of the Bill of Rights under the Due Process clause. We then went back to the case brief of the AAC v. Dearborn case in the text, and we got through the first of the Issues in the case, the 30 day notice requirement. The class will watch the Supreme Court program on Thursday 9/9, and the we will continue with the AAC brief on Tuesday 9/14. There is no specific assignment for Thursday 9/9, but you certainly could start on the assignment for Tuesday 9/14, which is to review the Sample AAC Brief, and also the look over the Augusta and Bangor Ordinances and decide whether either of those ordinances is subject to the same constitutional shortcomings as the 6th Circuit decided applied to the Dearborn Ordinance.