March 25, 2013

POS 282 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LAW
In class today, Monday 3/25, I began with a rundown of the same-sex marriage cases that the Supreme Court will hear this week, looking especially at how the language in Lawrence might impact those cases. We then went over three Maine cases regarding waivers of liability, discussing Doyle v. Bowdoin College, Waterhouse v. Lea, and Lloyd v. Sugarloaf. We will pick up with the textbook Reardon case on Wednesday. The assignment for Wednesday 3/27 is to read through p. 80 of the text.

POS 384 CIVIL LIBERTIES
In class today, Monday 3/25, we began by reviewing those factors (imminence and likelihood) that Holmes and Brandeis in Gitlow had thought to be necessary for a conviction, and which the majority had thought to be unnecessary. We discussed how deference to Congress and the states also became a battleground for differing interpretations of Free Speech. We went through the four opinions in Dennis, stressing the ways in which they clashed with each other. I will start on Wednesday with a brief discussion of the 1957 Yates case, which also interpreted the Smith Act. The assignment fro Wednesday 3/27 is to read through p. 233 of the text.