September 20, 2016

POS 282 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LAW
In class today, Tuesday 9/20, I distributed one handout, my version of the Lawrence v. Texas case brief. We began by going over the Obergefell handout, looking at both the majority and the dissent in terms of their treatment of Glucksberg. We discussed the options of following, distinguishing, or overruling precedent. Kennedy and Roberts disagreed about how the Obergefell Court was treating the Glucksberg precedent. Kennedy and Roberts also disagreed about the proper role of the courts in this dispute, compared to the role of the state legislatures. We then moved on to Lawrence v. Texas. We went through a case brief of the case. We looked at both the due process and equal protection arguments, and why Kennedy chose one rather than the other. We also looked at the flow chart that Kennedy seemed to be following, and then how he pulled an unexpected word out of his hat at the end of the case. The assignment for Thursday 9/22 is to read in the text pp. 34-38, and to write out (for yourselves, not handed in) a case brief of Speelman.