March 24, 2015

POS 282 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LAW
In class today, Tuesday 3/24, I handed back the Bragg case briefs, as well as three handouts: the Key to the Bragg Comments; my version of the Bragg case brief; and an article going over the 1972 case that almost got rid of the death penalty in the U.S. altogether. We went over some aspects of the case brief, and then finished both Suggs v. Norris and Gregg v. Georgia. The assignment for Thursday 3/26 is to read in the text pp. 59-66 (including Mobbley and Holland).


POS 383 AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
In class today, Tuesday 3/24 we began our discussion of the executive power. Before we got there, though, I went over a current Supreme Court case that challenges the right of the people to have reapportionment of Congressional seats done by an independent commission (Arizona Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission). We also talked about the meaning of "natural-born citizen" as a qualification for President. Then we went to Bush v. Gore, talking about what a chad is, and how it might hang or dimple, and what the per curiam opinion identified as the constitutional problem with the Florida Supreme Court's instructions. We also looked at how the dissenting Justices differed from the majority, as well as among themselves. Finally, we talked about the electoral college system, in terms of the electors themselves, the allocation of electoral votes among the states, the lack of constitutional protection for the right to vote for president, and the winner-take-all rules of most (but not all) states. The assignment for Thursday 3/26 is to read andprepare to discuss through p. 205 of the text.