September 22, 2015

POS 282 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LAW
In class today, Tuesday 9/22, I distributed four handouts: my version of the Glucksberg case brief; an article by Brittany Maynard; an excerpt from Obergefell v. Hodges; and the Maine statutes regarding assisted suicide. We went through the Glucksberg case brief, getting as far as the argument by the doctors that precedent dictates the result here. We'll continue and finish the case brief on Thursday. Along the way in our discussion, we covered: the citation form and order of the parties in the U.S. Supreme Court; the organization of the federal court system; the treatment of precedent as following, distinguishing, and overruling; the methodology used in order to determine whether a liberty interest is "fundamental"; the consequent division into low hurdles and high hurdles depending on the designation as fundamental or not; and the common levels of persuasion used in court proceedings (beyond a reasonable doubt, clear and convincing, and preponderance of the evidence). The assignment for Thursday 9/24 is to review Glucksberg, and read and prepare to discuss the four handouts.


POS 384 CIVIL LIBERTIES
In class today, Tuesday 9/22, I distributed one handout, my version of the Smith outline. We first covered the textbook cases from the 1980s, Thomas, Lee, Bob Jones and Goldman. We then went through Smith, and how to outline Smith. We covered Scalia's majority opinion, and O'Connor's concurrence. We'll begin with Blackmun's dissent on Thursday. The additional assignment for Thursday 9/24 is to read through p. 128, and prepare for yourself (not handed in or graded) an outline of Kennedy's opinion in Boerne v. Flores.