September 25, 2018

POS 384 CIVIL LIBERTIES
In class today, Tuesday 9/25, I distributed 2 handouts: the concurring opinions in Masterpiece Cakeshop, and a newspaper article about the further adventures of Phillips the baker. I went back and reviewed the pre-Smith cases,and then we spent the rest of class going through the three Smith opinions in the text. Along the way, we saw how the ideological alignment of Justices has shifted: the liberals in Smith wanted to apply strict scrutiny and not defer to a state's policy choices, and the liberals in Trinity Lutheran did not want to apply strict scrutiny (at least in that context). We will pick up Thursday with the aftermath of Smith (RFRA ansd Boerne), and then move on to Masterpiece Cakeshop (Kennedy's opinion).
The assignment for Thursday 9/27 is to review the aftermath of Smith in the text (previously assigned), to review the Kennedy opinion in Masterpiece Cakeshop, and to refine your own outline of that opinion (not handed in or graded). Also read the newpaper article I distributed today. To the extent that you're all caught up, also read and outline the concurring opinions in Masterpiece that I distributed today.


POS 282 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LAW
In class today, Tuesday 9/25, I distributed 2 handouts: an excerpt from Obergefell v. Hodges about substantive due process, and an article by Brittany Maynard about her end of life choice. We first went back and looked at the Maine sentencing statute, and I went over Maine statutory citation format.
We then moved to the Glucksberg case. I went over the organization of the federal court system, including both panel and en banc Court of Appeala decisions. We worked our way through the case brief for Glucksberg, getting as far as the first issue, which is where we'll pick up on Thursday.
The assignment for Thursday 9/27 is to review the Glucksberg opinion and refine your case brief of that opinion (not handed in or graded). Also read today's 2 handouts.