COURTS AND SOCIAL CHANGEFall 2011 – LSTU E-107

Dr. Akiba J. Covitz

Associate Dean & Lecturer on LawHarvard Law School

CLASS 1September 1, 2011

2Covitz - LSTU E-107 - Fall 2011 Class 1

A Bit About You and Me

• Why Am I Interested in this “Stuff”?• Some Backstory

• Why Are You “Interested” in this Stuff?• Some Backstories

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The Syllabus

On the course i-site:

http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k81724&pageid=icb.page437832

Regular updates• Will be as communicative as possible

(within the bounds of [non-Twitter]

reason)• Will post my slides after class

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The Syllabus

• Let’s walk through the syllabus• Books and i-site• Grade: five parts (undergrad) or

six parts (grad)• Not “Mr. Hart . . . .”

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZJEhlIefxA&feature=related)

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Three Key Questions for the Semester:

1. How Do Courts in the United States Work?

2. What Can Courts Do?

3. What Should Courts Do?

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How Do Courts in the United States Work?

First Five Classes: Judicial Mechanics

Baum, American Courts

Class 1 (9/1): Overview, Cases, and Opinions -

Justices and Ours (Cases)Class 2 (9/8): Courts and Their Organization

(Cases and Baum)Class 3 (9/15): Lawyers and the Selection of

Judges (Baum)

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How Do Courts in the United States Actually Work?

First Five Classes: Judicial Mechanics

Baum, American Courts

Class 4 (9/22): The Role of Judges and the Operation of Criminal and Civil

Courts (Baum)Class 5 (10/6): The Operation and Role of

Appellate Courts (Baum and H & M)

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What Can and Should Courts in the United States Do?

Next Set of Three Classes: Application

The Judicial Branch, Edited Volume (“H & M”)

Class 6 (10/20): Mid-Term and The Big Questions:Where Do Judges Fit in the American System?

Class 7 (10/27): Courts and American Culture

Class 8 (11/3): Big Issues and Comparative Issues -

Rights, Liberties, and Courts

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Putting What We Have Learned to the Test

Next Two Classes: Courts, Rights, and Backlash?

From Jim Crow to Civil Rights, Mike Klarman

http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/index.html?id=577

Read His Book and Meet HimClass 9 (11/10) and Class 10 (11/27)

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Putting What We Have Learned to the Test

Final Class Before the Final Exam: Courts and Rights

The NAACP’s Legal Strategy against Segregated Education, 1925-1950,

Mark Tushnet

http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/index.html?id=534

Read His Book and Meet Him

Class 11 (12/1): Klarman Book Reviews Due andClass 12 (12/8): Tushnet Book Reviews Due

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Putting What We Have Learned to the Ultimate Test

Class 13 – Final Exam – 12/15

Graduate Student Papers – Due 12/22

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Current Debates

• Dean Martha Minow: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/08/08/also_confirmed_marshalls_legacy/

• Professor Mike Klarman:http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-klarman-gay-marriage-20100815,0,5255573,print.story

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Three Foundational Cases:

1. Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

2. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

3. Brown v. Board of Education I (1954)

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Three Foundational Cases:

1. Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

Key Questions (same ones for most of our readings):

A. What’s the holding?B. What are some of the “obiter dicta”?C. What’s the impact?

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Three Foundational Cases:

1. Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

-- Overview: http://www.oyez.org/cases/1851-1900/1856/1856_0

-- Syllabus: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0060_0393_ZS.html

-- Majority Opinion:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0060_0393_ZO.html

-- Justice McLean’s Dissent (and also keep in mind Justice Curtis):http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0060_0393_ZD.html

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Three Foundational Cases:

2. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

-- Overview: http://www.oyez.org/cases/1851-1900/1895/1895_210/

-- Syllabus: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0163_0537_ZS.html

-- Majority Opinion: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0163_0537_ZO.html

-- Dissent: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0163_0537_ZD.html

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Three Foundational Cases:

2. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

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Three Foundational Cases:

2. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Key Questions:

A. What’s the holding?B. What are some of the “obiter dicta”?C. What’s the Impact?

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Three Foundational Cases:

3. Brown v. Board of Education I (1954)

-- Overview:

http://www.oyez.org/cases/1950-1959/1952/1952_1/

-- Syllabus:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0347_0483_ZS.html

-- Opinion:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0347_0483_ZO.html

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Three Foundational Cases:

3. Brown v. Board of Education I (1954)

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Three Foundational Cases:

3. Brown v. Board of Education I (1954)

Key Questions:

A. What’s the holding?B. What are some of the “obiter dicta”?C. What’s the impact?

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Back to Our Three Key Questions for the Semester:

1. How Do Courts in the United States Work?

2. What Can Courts Do?

3. What Should Courts Do?

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For Next Week:

1. Back to the Three Key Cases

2. Begin Our Overview of American Courts and Their Organization Assignment: Baum, Preface and Chapters 1-4.

3. Begin to Consider Your Chapter Presentation Choice