November 1, 2011

POS 282--Introduction to American Law
In class today, Tuesday 11/1, I distributed one handout, the Maine statute regarding the crime of hindering apprehension. We went through the Gregg case, outlining the Stewart opinion and then talking about the different approaches in the three opinions in the text. We then discussed both the majority and dissenting opinions in the Mobbley case, especially the differing views regarding legislative intent. We started looking at the Maine statute to see how Maine deals with the problem addressed by the New Mexico legislature in the Mobbley case. We will begin on Thursday by finishing up our look at the Maine statute. The additional reading assignment for Thursday 11/3 is to read in the text pp. 79-97.

POS 359--The Current Supreme Court Term
In class today, Tuesday 11/1, I returned the Florence papers. The class then made presentations in the cases that were assigned last week. We then voted on the next case that we'll concentrate on. The winner was United States v. Jones, the GPS Fourth amendment case which will be argued on Tuesday 11/8. The assignment for Thursday 11/3 is to read the Petitioner's brief in U.S. v. Jones.