September 17, 2015

POS 282 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LAW
In class today, Thursday 9/17, we first went over the concurring and dissenting opinions in Miller. We talked about the difference between concurring in the opinion versus concurring only in the judgment. We discussed the important difference between a majority opinion versus a plurality opinion . In looking at Breyer's concurrence, we went over the four mental states involved in criminal responsibility: intent, knowledge, recklessness, and negligence. In looking at Roberts' dissent, we looked at three persistent institutional conflicts: the rights of an individual versus the power of the state; the separation of powers between the executive, legislative, and the judicial power; and the federal power versus the power of the states. We went over the Maine sentencing statute, including proper citation form. We went over the fates of the two juveniles, Miller and Jackson. And finally we discussed the upcoming case of Montgomery v. Louisiana, which raises the question of the retroactive application of the rule in Miller. The assignment for Tuesday 9/22 is to read in the text through p. 34. In Washington v. Glucksberg, try your hand at putting together a case brief of Rehnquist's opinion. Follow the format of the case brief template and my sample brief in Miller. The assignment will not be handed in, but I do want you to write it out, ready for discussion on Tuesday.


POS 384 CIVIL LIBERTIES
In class today, Thursday 9/17, I distributed two handouts: my version of an outline for Sherbert v. Verner, and an article about the Kim Davis case in light of the Smith Supreme Court case. We finished our review of Sherbert, including the concurring and dissenting opinions. Along the way, we went over the treatment of precedent, including the options of following, distinguishing, or overruling prior cases. We also discussed the difference between concurring in the judgment versus concurring in the opinion. We then went through the outline of Wisconsin v. Yoder, including again the concurring and dissenting opinions. We also talked about what the concepts of liberal and conservative seem to have meant in terms of the religion cases. The assignment for Tuesday 9/22 is to review Smith (previously assigned) and to prepare for yourself (although not handed in or graded) an outline of Scalia's opinion in Smith.