April 16, 2014

POS 282 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LAW
In class today, Wednesday 4/16, we first finished up the Strunk case. We went over the levels of courts in Kentucky, and which of those have the theoretical power to order this organ transplant. We constructed the legal issue in the case, with special emphasis on the key facts that led the majority to conclude that the transplant was allowed under the facts of this case. We went over the dissenting opinion, and how the dissenting judges did not seem to disagree that the transplant could be ordered under appropriate circumstances. Then I started our discussion about conflict of law rules. We talked about the general theory of when courts of one state might apply the substantive law of another state. I then began a discussion of the Maine Supreme Court case of Collins v. Trius, the Canadian bus full of shoppers that had an accident in Maine. We went over which states might have power to hear the case, and the differences in substantive law between Maine and Canada in terms of pain and suffering damages. We talked about Maine's adoption of the Restatement of Conflict of Laws, and we will pick up with the factors that Maine adopted in deciding which state has the more significant contacts with a motor vehicle accident. The assignment for Friday 4/18 is to finish up your Jeremiah T.brief, previously assigned. If you have finished work on the case brief, you can read in the text through p. 114, Hubbard.


POS 384 CIVIL LIBERTIES
In class today, Wednesday 4/16, I distributed one handout, an account of the alleged KKK shooter in Kansas. We talked about the constitutional protections for him, both in terms of free speech, and in terms of gun possession. We then returned to the Drake Brief in Opposition (BIO). We reviewed the District Court's holdings, and then compared them with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals holdings. We looked also at the Third Circuit dissent. We started into the argument of the BIO, concentrating on its quotation of Scalia's Heller limitations section. The assignment for Friday 4/18 is to finish the BIO. Also on Friday, I plan to distribute the next written assignment.


POS 359 THE CURRENT SUPREME COURT TERM
In class today, Wednesday 4/16, I first confirmed that our test will be Friday 4/25. We finished going over the McCutcheon decision. We discussed qui-pro-quo corruption, as well as other forms of things that money can buy. On Friday, I'll talk about something other than McCutcheon. The assignment for Friday 4/18 is to show up for class.