-Address each part of the question and, in your analysis, cite a broad range of specific course materials (particularly reading and lectures; about 7-10 different sources from the course per question is typical), bringing in and citing reading, lectures, other course materials, and your own ideas. Your use of evidence and argument should demonstrate you understand the course material and support your view well. Number your pages and start each essay with the question number.
-Proofread your work carefully for organization, coherence, grammar, punctuation, and spelling to clarify your points and eliminate errors. Quote precisely, use quotation marks accurately, and give page numbers for all quotes and close paraphrases, e.g., (Text, p. 30).
Citing outside references isn’t required, but you should provide full references for any outside sources on a separate References page, using the ASA citation style.
-Most of all your essays’ citations will be to our course materials, which you may cite within your paper’s text (without a separate References page) like this:
for Friedrichs text: (Text, pp. 123-124)
for Taking Sides articles: cite the specific article’s author, e.g., (Alito in TS, p. 232)
for lectures: (lecture on property, March 26)
for films: give the film title in quotes, e.g., (“Justice for Sale”)
group presentation (death penalty group) or discussion (copyright infringement discussion)
Advocacy groups, government officials, and the public have been debating possible legal changes designed to address significant social problems: (A) Improving water quality and addressing drought conditions by capturing rainwater to increase safe drinking water supplies, reducing trash and toxins entering waterways and beaches through stricter government regulation, and increasing penalties for polluters; (B) Allowing California cities and other local jurisdictions to enact or expand residential rent control laws; and (C) Increasing funding sources for local government services, public schools, and community colleges by raising tax assessment of commercial and industrial property and increasing taxes on firearm sales and tobacco products. The California Senate called Dr. Communitarian (Dr. C) and Dr. Libertarian (Dr. L) to speak at a public hearing about how law designed to address social problems does—or does not—protect the individual and community—specifically regarding these three proposed ballot measures.
What would Dr. Libertarian’s and Dr. Communitarian’s perspectives on the three measures be, what would each say about the measures and ideas the other side favors, and what assumptions or evidence would they use to support their own view and proposals? Both speakers should address (A) how each measure would or would not remedy the social problems they propose to remedy; (B) where the line should be drawn between what is appropriately “private” and “public” in a particular area of law; and (C) how individual rights and community interests should be respected in addressing positive and negative effects of “private” actions on the public or community.
Also, discuss your own perspective on Dr. L’s and Dr. C’s arguments and the legal actions you think would be most effective to address increasing penalties for polluters to improve water quality and address water pollution and scarcity; residential rent control and housing and taxing commercial and industrial property, firearm sales, and tobacco products to support local government services, public schools, and community colleges. What would be strengths and weaknesses of the legal actions you favor and what could address the weaknesses effectively? Cite and discuss specific course materials in your essay.
2. What role does—and what role should—U.S. law play in relation to for-profit corporations in arenas, issues, and cases the course covers (e.g., regarding the legal profession, employment and labor law, free speech, equality and discrimination, privacy, security and military power, education and school facilities, file sharing and copyright laws, white-collar and street crime, property, torts and tort reform, prisons, interrogation and torture, monopoly and competition, civil procedure and due process, and contracts)? Does—and should—the law serve the private interest, the public interest, or both? Explain how and why the law works the way you believe it does in serving the private or the public interest (or both). Discuss arenas, issues, and cases the course covers (such as those above or others you choose) and cite specific course materials in your essay.
3. How does—and how can—the law advance or undermine justice and human rights? What is the place of law in achieving justice? Some of our course materials address power issues and varying levels of access to and use of law by different social groups. Drawing on specific course materials, discuss the routes to effective use of law by those who are relatively disempowered or disenfranchised, as well as by powerful groups. Analyze the tension and possible conflict between progress and stability in the development of the law by using at least two cases as examples. Discuss ways in which society contributes to legal change and ways in which legal change affects society. Use specific concepts and examples from our course materials.
For each essay, we will evaluate four things:
1. effective and accurate summary of class material;
2. breadth and range: important points covered; inclusive—not too thin or short;
3. ability to apply, interpret, and criticize course material and use your own ideas (not just “parroting”); and
4. expression: organization, coherence, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and sentence structure.
READING: 1. David Friedrichs, Law in Our Lives: An Introduction (third edition) (“Text”);
– M. Ethan Katsh, Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Legal Issues (eighteenth
edition) (“TS”);
– David Friedrichs, Law in Our Lives: An Introduction (third edition) (“Text”)
– Film: “Justice for Sale”
– Film: “The House We Live In”
Whether the Fourteenth Amendment Permits Race-Conscious Public University
Admissions Policies (pp. 307-319):
Film: “Eyes on the Prize:
– on Whether the Eighth Amendment’s “Cruel and Unusual Punishment” Clause
Bars Imposing the Death Penalty on Juveniles (pp. 197-207, 2 articles)
– on Whether a Facebook Poster Needs More Than “General Intent” for a Post to be
Considered a “True Threat” Under Criminal Law (pp. 183-196):
-John Roberts (Majority Opinion) and Samuel Alito (Dissent), Elonis v. United States,
U.S. Supreme Court (2015) (2 articles)
