September 1, 2015

POS 282 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LAW
In class today, Tuesday 9/1, I distributed 4 handouts: the syllabus, the Maine Supreme Court case of Sanders v. Getchell, a list of questions to prepare to discuss as you read Sanders, and an excerpt from the Maine statutes regarding voting, student voting, and liability of officials for mistakes in enforcing the law. We went over the Syllabus, and then started discussing the Sanders case. Along the way, we talked about the vocabulary of Plaintiff and Defendant, Cause of Action, and Common Law. We also went over the order in which parties are listed in both the State of Maine Court system, and the U.S. Supreme Court. The assignment for Thursday 9/3 is to read and re-read the Sanders case, prepare to discuss the questions about the case, and read the Maine statutes handout.


POS 384 CIVIL LIBERTIES
In class today, Tuesday 9/1, I distributed 3 handouts: the syllabus, the U.S. District Court opinion in the case of Miller v. Davis, and an AP article about the latest developments in that case. We went over the Syllabus, and then started discussing the issues of civil liberties. We talked about how the U.S. definition of those liberties diverges from that of most of the Western democracies. We then talked about Davis' claim for "asylum for the conscience". We read the text of the First Amendment, and discussed a recent book by Burt Neubourne, Madison's Magic, which proposes an interpretation of order of rights listed in that Amendment, as a blueprint for creation of a democratic society. Neubourne sees the First Amendment as a progression that starts with the individual formation of a conscience, and moves toward democratic mass action. We talked about the background of the Miller v. Davis opinion, what a preliminary injunction is, and the structure of the federal court system. The assignment for Thursday 9/3 is to read and prepare to discuss the Miller v. Davis case, as well as the AP story updating the case.