February 12, 2016

POS 282 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LAW
In class today, Friday 2/12, I distributed three handouts: my version of the Glucksberg case brief; an excerpt from the same-sex marriage case of Obergefell v. Hodges; and an article about a recent attempt in Maine's legislature to allow assisted suicide. I told the class that our first exam will probably be on Wednesday 3/2. I talked about the difference between "distinguishing" precedent and "following" it. I also went over how, in cases like Roe v. Wade, a broad description of the right involved (the right to privacy), led the Supreme Court to overturn the laws of almost all of the states. Since there was no fundamental right found in Glucksberg, we also went over how the Court found the low hurdles to be satisfied. We came close to finishing the Glucksberg case brief, and will finish it with a discussion of Souter's concurrence in the judgment. The assignment for Monday 2/15, is to read the three handouts; to read in text pp.67-72 (Lawrence v. Texas); and to do a case brief (not handed in or graded) of Lawrence.


POS 484 CRIMINAL DUE PROCESS
In class today, Friday 2/12, I told the class that our first exam will probably be on Wednesday 3/2. I talked about one last case about the reasonable expectation of privacy, California v. Greenwood, about the expectation of privacy in the garbage that you put out to be collected. We finished up our discussion of Gates, and its outline. I went over the concept of investigatory stops of ongoing criminal activity. We went over the four levels of suspicion that justify (or not) police searches and seizures: probable cause; reasonable suspicion; a hunch; and suapicionless (dragnet) searches. I then talked about three cases that address whether there is "reasonable suspicion" to make investigatory stops: Alabama v. White (1990), Florida v. J.L. (2000), and Navarette v. California (2014), all based on anonymous phone calls. The assignment for Monday 2/15 is to read in the text pp.479-482. I plan to talk about two recent cases about searches incident to an arrest, one about searches of a cell phone, and another about the taking of DNA.