JANUARY 9, 2003

CORNELL COLLEGE
Department of Politics

 

366. Constitutional Law
Civil Liberties

January 2003

Dr. Craig W. Allin, Instructor
Corey Williams Green, Consulting Librarian

 

 

 


 

The following Supplements to this Course Description can be found on the Web:

Calendar & Assignments Legal Resources of Russell Cole Library Briefing Supreme Court Cases Appellate Brief & Oral Argument
Rules & Regulations Internet Research Links Model Case Brief Model Appellate Brief
Grades Citing Internet Sources Good Advice Docket of Oral Arguments


COURSE DESCRIPTION

Instructor: Craig W. Allin, Room 307, South Hall. Telephone: Office, (895-) 4278; Home, 895-8103. Phone messages may be left with faculty secretary Cheryl Dake (895-) 4283, or in her voice mail box, or on the answering machine at my home. I do not check my office voice mail. If I do not answer the phone, I recommend contacting me by e-mail.

Office Hours: If I'm not in class with you, you can probably find me in my office. Feel free to make an appointment or just show up. To help you find me the current version of my schedule is available for your electronic inspection over the campus network if you are using Microsoft Outlook. This feature is not available with the free, bare-bones version called "Outlook Express."

  1. On the File menu, point to Open, and then click Other User's Folder.
  2. In the Open Other User's Folder box, click Name and select Craig Allin from the list.
  3. In the Folder box, select Calendar from the pull-down menu.

E-Mail: In order to provide quick and legible feedback on your work, please deliver your papers, paper-preparatory submissions, and take-home quizzes (if any) by means of e-mail attachments. Please save your papers and other submissions in WordPerfect (*.wpd) or Word (*.doc). Please use your name for the file name. E.g., craig-allin.doc. It doesn't help me find what I need if I have 25 files all named "paper." Attach your file to an e-mail addressed to callin@cornellcollege.edu. If you have not sent e-mail attachments before, check here for instructions.

Class Meetings: Monday through Friday from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. in South 302.

Books:

  • The following are available at the bookstore:
    • T.R. Van Geel: Understanding Supreme Court Opinions (3rd edition, 2002)
    • Craig R. Ducat: Constitutional Interpretation: Rights of the Individual (7th edition, 2000) [the case book]
  • The following are on reserve in the library:
    • Good, Mightier Than the Sword: Powerful Writing in the Legal Profession (1989)
    • Irons: May It Please the Court (1993) [live recordings of oral arguments before the Supreme Court]
    • Louthan: The United States Supreme Court (1991)
    • Melone: Researching Constitutional Law (1990)
    • Shapo, Walter & Fajans: Writing and Analysis in the Law (1991)
    • UCLA Moot Court Honors Program: Handbook of Appellate Advocacy (revised edition, 1986)

The University of Iowa Law Library: Located in the Boyd Law Building just southwest of the intersection of Burlington and Riverside in Iowa City, the library is open to the public for long hours, seven days per week. This is an exceptionally valuable--and reasonably user-friendly--resource, but you must be a lawyer or enrolled in the law school to check materials out. Although I would never discourage anyone from visiting a first-rate law library, everything you need for this course is available on campus. See Legal Resources of Russell Cole Library and Internet Research Links.

Synopsis: Refer to the Calendar & Assignments which outline also contains your primary reading assignments from the case book. All reading must be completed by class time on the day for which it is assigned. Please allow yourself plenty of time for careful study. You will discover that casual reading of court cases is not terribly productive.

Requirements: Your grade for this course will be based upon the following factors:

  1. Exams and Quizzes [40%] – There will be a total of four quizzes in the course of the term. They may or may not be announced in advance. The quizzes will preview most of the kinds of questions you will confront on the final exam. Your best three quiz grades will each account for 5% of the final course grade. A comprehensive final examination will count for an additional 25%. For the purposes of exams and quizzes you may bring and use unlimited notes and briefs so long as they are composed by you. Exams and quizzes–and preparation for exams and quizzes–are conducted on an honor system. In each instance, you will be required to certify that you have not accepted aid from another student, given aid to another student, or used notes or materials except those composed by you. Study groups and group preparation for exams and quizzes are encouraged, but "group notes" or "group briefs" may not be used in exams and quizzes.
  2. Briefs [20%] – You will submit two briefs in the course of the term. See Briefing Supreme Court Cases. Each brief will count for 10% of the final grade. This is your best chance to pad your grade and the only assignment that may be rewritten in an effort to improve your grade. Rewrites are averaged with the original grade to determine the final grade for the assignment.
  3. Appellate Brief and Oral Argument [30%] – You will prepare an appellate brief and argue a constitutional case before the class. See Appellate Brief & Oral Argument.
  4. Class Participation [10%] – The final 10% of the course grade will reflect my subjective evaluation of your contribution to the class. I will reward thoughtful leadership in class discussion and effectiveness in the role of justice when others are arguing cases
 
Last Update: January 9, 2003
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