Civ Rts Litigation (LAW-795RT-001)
Yeomans
Meets: 03:30 PM - 05:20 PM (Th) - Capital - Room C217
Enrolled: 17 / Limit: 22
Notices
There are no notices at this time.
Description
Civil Rights Litigation (Spring 2016)
Professor Yeomans
Office Hours Tuesday and Thursdays 4-6 p.m. and by appointment
Room 515
202-274-4410
wyeomans@wcl.american.edu
In Civil Rights Litigation for spring 2016, we will focus on three major areas of civil rights law. The course will be roughly equally divided among the three topics. At the conclusion of each of the first two units, students will write a graded in-class essay. At the end of the course, students will write a third graded essay as a final take-home examination.
We will begin with the return of race-conscious affirmative action to the Supreme Court in Fisher v. University of Texas. Next, we’ll turn to voting rights, focusing on redistricting cases from Texas and Arizona pending in the Supreme Court. Finally, we’ll take up federal criminal and civil responses to police use of excessive force. The first two units will start with background to build an understanding of the legal underpinnings of the litigation, followed by reading of lower court opinions. We will examine the petitions for certiorari and what they tell us about the Court’s reasons for taking the cases. We will then read briefs filed in the cases, study the transcripts of oral arguments, and discuss commentary on the cases and the issues they present. In the third unit, we will examine pending and recently completed federal investigations of police officer conduct, relying on video, documentary evidence, and judicial opinions. I, of course, reserve the right to restructure the course if the Supreme Court takes a compelling civil rights issue.
The goals of the class are to gain insight into the process of high-stakes civil rights litigation, including the legal, strategic, and policy choices that drive it; deepen substantive knowledge of civil rights law; experience civil rights litigation from the litigator’s perspective, including enhancing understanding of the factors that are likely to influence individual Justices, judges, and jurors; and strengthen the ability to write and speak about these topics.
Students will be expected to participate actively in class. There will be several opportunities for structured role-playing and debate, in addition to regular classroom discussion. Classroom participation will constitute 15% of the final grade. Each of the in-class essays will contribute 25% toward the final grade and the final take-home essay will count as 35% of the final grade.
Textbooks and Other Materials
The textbook information on this page was provided by the instructor. Students should use this information when considering purchases from the AU Campus Store or other vendors. Students may check to determine if books are currently available for purchase online.
First Class Readings
Not available at this time.
Syllabus
Use your MyAU username and password to access the syllabus in the following format(s):
Microsoft Word 2007 (DOCX)