March 19, 2015

POS 282 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LAW
In class today, Thursday 3/19, I collected the Bragg case briefs, and we went over them. I plan to return those case briefs next Tuesday. Along the way, we went over the concept of dictum. We then started our discussion of Suggs v. Norris, getting through the cause of action. We will finish Suggs next Tuesday. The assignment for Tuesday 3/24 is to review Suggs (again) and additionally to read through p.59 of the text (Gregg v. Georgia).


POS 383 AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
In class today. Thursday 3/19, I first went over two areas of law in which the coercion theory of federalism might soon appear, the Clean Air Act and Federal Emergency Management Agency rules. We then returned to an area that shows far less solicitousness of the power of the states, preemption. We went over the fate of the four parts of the Arizona law in Arizona v. U.S., and how each part faired under the Supreme Court majority. We also went through the other three opinions in the case. We discussed the previously distributed article on the Maine law that permitted the importation of foreign prescription drugs. I then went over three recent Supreme Court case regarding preemption of state law claims against pharmaceutical companies, Wyeth v. Levine, Pliva v. Mensing, and Mutual Pharmaceutical v. Bartlett. With those cases, we end our concentration on federal/state relations. Our next subject is the power of the executive, and the assignment for Tuesday 3/24 is to read and prepare to discuss pp. 183- 194 of the text.