November 15, 2011

POS 282--Introduction to American Law
In class today, Tuesday 11/15, we spent the first part of the class going over yesterday's grant of cert. in the Affordable Care Act case, and how the case of Gonzales v. Raich might impact the decision in the ACA case. We then returned to the textbook, and I discussed two ex post facto cases, the U.S. Supreme Court case of Smith v. Doe, and the Maine Supreme Court case of State v. Letalien (2009). We then went over the concept of dictum, and the textbook case of State v. Butler. I also went over the later U.S. Supreme Court case of Harris v. N.Y., which cleared up the Supreme's Court holding regarding the use of un-Mirandized statements for purposes of impeachment. The additional reading assignment for Thursday 11/17 is to read and prepare to discuss through p. 140 of the text.

POS 359--The Current Supreme Court Term
In class today, Tuesday 11/15, we talked about how the Justices' specific questions in Jones might give a clue as to their votes. The assignment for Thursday 11/17 is to write the previously assigned Jones paper. The paper is due at the beginning of class on Thursday. After we go over your predictions, we will also discuss the third and final written assignment.