February 13, 2013

POS 282 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LAW
In class today, Wednesday 2/13, I distributed two handouts: an article about law school reform (it's just for your information--not on the test), and the Maine statutes regarding use of force in defense of premises and property. We the launched back into Katko. We discussed the idea of common law, jury instructions, and the meaning of a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. We went over the different kinds of authority looked at by the Iowa Court. We looked at primary authority versus secondary authority; mandatory authority versus persuasive authority; and distinguishing, following and extending precedent. We will begin on Friday with the Court's discussion of punitive damages. The assignment for Friday 2/15 is to review Katko, (one more time) including the dissent, look at the Maine statute I passed out and think about how the Katko facts would be resolved under that statute, and also read and prepare to discuss Smith v. Idaho, p. 34.


POS 384 CIVIL LIBERTIES
In class today, Wednesday 2/13, I distributed five handouts: one about the Law Court oral argument that we listened to today, and four articles about gun control. We the listened to the live stream of today's oral argument in State v. Strong, regarding the reach of the Maine statute against videotaping people in settings in which they have an expectation of privacy. I then clarified some questions that students had about the Free Exercise paper. For the first section of the paper, I do want the specific points made by Scalia. You can pretty much go paragraph by paragraph through his opinion. In grading, I will be asking whether you demonstrated an understanding of what points he's making, and what points O'Connor makes in response. For the second part, I am looking for an analysis under the Free Exercise Clause; but Korte did have other Causes of Action, and to the extent that you find those other Causes of Action to be significant to your Free Exercise discussion, they can play a role in your answer. For the third section, you have free reign to come up with an interpretation of the Free Exercise Clause that makes sense to you, but you should be clear as to how you are treating precedent: following distinguishing, overruling. etc., the major theories of how the Clause should be interpreted. The assignment for Friday 2/15 is to finish the Free Exercise paper (due at the beginning of Friday's class) and also to read the handouts on gun control.