November 19, 2015

POS 282 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LAW
In class today, Thursday 11/19, I started by backtracking a bit. We had previously discussed dictum and the Butler case, and I pointed out that we've seen three different variations in dictum: Butler, Mobbley, and NFIB. We then finished up our discussion of retroactivity and the Dempsey case. We saw how the Montana Court looked at the old and the new federal models for retroactivity, and basically rejected them both, and came up with a rule all their own. I also discussed the Maine Supreme Court's view on retroactivity in Androkites v. White. We looked at the lack of precedent in the Strunk case, and how the best interests of the donor son were dealt with by both the majority and the dissent. We then began our discussion of Greeson. We looked at how Greeson's lawyer (possibly) saw this as a case in which there were choices about whether to sue in Indiana or Illinois (personal jurisdiction), a clear difference in tort law between Indiana and Illinois, and a well-established precedent in Indiana Choice of Laws rules that would result in the application of the favorable Illinois tort law. We got up to the point at which this all went terribly wrong, which is where we'll pick up on Tuesday. The assignment for Tuesday 11/24 is to review Greeson, and, in addition, read in the text pp. 144-146 (Land v. Yamaha).


POS 384 CIVIL LIBERTIES
In class today, Thursday 11/19, we first finished up our discussion of Snyder v. Phelps. We looked at the extension of First Amendment protection for speaker/defendants from plaintiffs who were public officials, to public figures, to limited purpose public figures, and finally to all matters of public concern. We also looked at the location of the protest, and how the evaluation of the tort as being viewpoint-based was made. We examined Alito's dissent, especially the question of public concern. We then moved to Roe v. Wade and abortion rights. We looked at the maps of abortion laws prior to Roe. We talked about litmus tests for Supreme Court nominations, and how the politics have changed since 1973. We examined Burger's maneuvers in assigning and scheduling the case. We looked at the right of privacy, and where its origin could be located in the text of the constitution. We talked about fundamental rights, strict scrutiny, and trimesters. On Tuesday we'll finish up our discussion of Roe. The additional assignment for Tuesday 11/24 is to read in the text through p. 433.