September 12, 2019

POS 282 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LAW
In class today, Thursday 9/12, I distributed 4 handouts: my version of the Miller case brief; the Maine sentencing statutes; and the Petioner and Respondent briefs in the current SCOTUS case that follows up on Miller, Mathena v. Malvo.
I began class by going through some of the concepts in the introductory section of the test, including natural law, equity, common law. and the tension between what's just and what's speedy. I also went through the organization of the Maine court system, with our 2 trial courts and no intermediate appellate court. I discussed 4 juvenile sentencing cases that preceded Miller: Thompson v. Oklahoma; Sanford v. Kentucky; Roper v. Simmons; and Graham v. Florida. We then went through the majority opinion in Miller, putting it into the format of our case brief.
The assignment for Tuesday 9/17 is to read the other (concurring and dissenting) opinions in Miller, and to read today's 4 handouts.


POS 484 CRIMINAL DUE PROCESS
In class today, Thursday 9/12, I distributed one handout, my version of the outline of the Jardines majority opinion. On the reverse side of the handout is my guide to the format that I'm looking for in an outline.
We went through the Jardines majority opinion and created an outline of it. Along the way, I went over a few of the cases discussed in Jardines, including Whren (§17), Jones (§8), and Kyllo (§21).
The assignment for Tuesday 9/17 is to review the the concurring and dissenting opinions in Jardines, and to do an outline of the dissenting opinion in Jardines (not handed in or graded).