April 3, 2017

POS 282 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LAW
In class today, Monday 4/3, I handed back the Williams case briefs, as well as my comment key to the numbered comments that I had made. We went over Lawrence v. Texas, covering the equal protection v. due process field of battle, Kennedy's assessment of the previous Bowers v. Hartwick characterization of the right and history, the flow chart of fundamental rights, and Kennedy's ultimate conclusion of the lack of any legitimate state interest. We talked also about the legislating of morality overall.
The assignment for Wednesday 4/5 is to read in the text through p. 77 (Glassford v. BrickKicker).


POS 384 CIVIL LIBERTIES
In class today, Monday 4/3, we first finished our discussion of Griswold by going over the dissenting opinions. We discussed the basic jurisprudential question: what's the line between what the legislature is allowed to make criminal, versus what the constitution protects as an individual's right and puts off the table to government regulation. That question becomes especially challenging when there's no specific constitutional provision to go by. Then we moved on to Roe v. Wade. We went through Blackmun's opinion in terms of whether the right to abortion is fundamental; where the right is located in the constitution; and whether (and when) the state nevertheless has a compelling interest in maintaining maternal health and protecting potential life. We will pick up on Wednesday with the dissenting opinions.
The assignment for Wednesday 4/5 is to review the rest of Roe, and to read in addition Planned Parenthod v. Casey (through p. 425). If you're unable to finish all that, at least try to get through the O'Connor/Kennedy/Souter plurality opinion (through p. 422)