September 7, 2012

POS 282 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LAW
In class today, Friday 9/7, I took pictures of the class, and hopefully will learn names and faces in a few weeks. We discussed the concept of natural law, and then also the question of how a lawyer can justify doing work (such as criminal defense work) in which success in a case may translate to an "unjust" result for society. The assignment for Monday 9/10 is to read in the textbook pp. 14-22.


POS 359 FEDERALISM
In class today, Friday 9/7, we first discussed classrooms. I am pleased to report that we will be moving class to the Political Science Conference Room on the second floor of N. Stevens, starting Monday 9/10. I'll be e-mailing the class about this change, but please also spread the word to your classmates as you communicate with them. We discussed the constitutional problem with the feds offering a boatload of money to the states (coercive) and also our attitudes to the general idea of federal power versus state power in our government. We then started our discussion of the Articles of Confederation, focussing on the necessity of an express grant of power to the feds. We will continue with our discussion of the Articles on Monday. In addition, read the U.S. Constitution, found in the beginning of our text, and compare the Articles with the Constitution.


POS 359 THE CURRENT SUPREME COURT TERM
In class today, Friday 9/7, we started a discussion of some of the concepts mentioned in the text. We discussed judicial activism, and judicial review. We will continue with that discussion next week. The additional assignment for Monday 9/10 is to read through p. 58 of the text.