LGST - Legal Studies

Introduction to U.S. and comparative legal institutions and practices. Examines diverse areas of law from torts to civil rights to international human rights. Why is America portrayed as having an activist legal culture; why is law used to decide so many questions from presidential elections to auto accidents; can law resolve disputes that, historically, have led to war and violence; is the legal system fair and/or effective, and, if so, for whom and under what conditions?

Analyzes arguments concerning speech and toleration in the Western philosophical tradition. Is the freedom to think and speak freely a good thing? Why or why not? To what extent is this true? When does expression constitute harm, to either the community or individuals? What does it mean to tolerate those beliefs or practices you find bigoted? Evil? Dangerous to society? What kinds of disagreements can exist without destroying the political community, and what kinds can we simply not abide? Students will know and understand the very best arguments for free speech, for restricting certain kinds of speech and become empowered to engage with the speech disputes in our own political moment.

Analysis of legal issues related to gender, sexuality, and sexual orientation. Introduction to the key areas of gender and sexuality regulated by law and critical analysis of how law and policy should and do treat these issues.

Offers systematic exploration of alternative conceptions of the nature of law, including positivism, natural law, formalism, realism, pragmatism, and theories of justice. Additional focus on the nature of law; relation of law and morality, rights and other legal concepts; and philosophical debates such as critical legal studies and critical race theory.

Explores the status of American civil liberties as provided by the Bill of Rights. Particular attention will be given to issues of concern relating to the aftermath of 9/11, including issues relating to detainees, freedom of information requests, wiretapping authority, watch lists, profiling, and creation of a domestic intelligence agency.

Surveys First Amendment jurisprudence using history, case law, and philosophical writings. Class discusses emerging issues in free expression, including defamation, incitement to violence, hate speech, and freedom of the press. (Formerly Issues in Constitutional Law.)

Examines relevant court cases as well as local, state, and federal laws that define boundaries for legal recognition of sexual orientation and personal sexuality. Explores legal assumptions behind current and historical cases defining personal sexuality and sexual orientation and considers the social and political impetus in each era that drove the courts and legislatures to make such decisions.

Explores how Jews have influenced and been impacted by the American legal system. Students explore significant cases, debates, and trends in the law as it relates to Jewish identity, religious freedom, and conceptions of justice.

Examines the Nazi philosophy of law, and how it was used to pervert Germany's legal system in order to discriminate against, ostracize, dehumanize, and ultimately eliminate certain classes of human beings, and the role of international law in rectifying the damage.

Explores how countries organize their societies through legal rules. Particular attention is given to constitutional design, differences between common and civil law systems, changes brought about by the European Union, and the convergence of legal norms globally.

Investigates the relationship between sports, law, and politics, focusing on racism, colonialism, post-colonialism, and globalization.

Explores variety of texts including novels, short stories, and essays as a source for reflection about the nature of law and legal practice. Readings include such writers as Herman Melville, Harper Lee, Richard Wright, Arthur Miller, Nadine Gordimer, and James Alan McPherson, among others.

Studies the history of America's regime of government secrecy from a human rights perspective. Focus is the dispiriting history of judicial deference to executive authority that enabled the massive secrecy regime to establish and perpetuate itself. Tracing the origin of the secrecy state to the nuclear program during World War II, students consider how the "state secrets doctrine" was codified in early Cold War jurisprudence as an all-purpose alibi for government interventions abroad and surveillance at home. The second half of the course turns to the 21st century War on Terror, highlighting the kidnappings, torture, and assassinations perpetrated by the secrecy state, with an eye on the role of the court system as a vehicle for exposure and redress.

Explores the history and theory of U.S. state punishment from its 17th-century beginnings to the present and notes evolving models of criminal deviance, focusing on how punishment systems legitimate particular models of criminal deviance, crime, and its correction.

Explores the complex relationship between race and the law in American society. Included subjects are critical race theory, civil rights and voting rights law, issues of the criminal justice system, intersections with issues of class and gender, and the social construction of race through law and legal decisions. (Formerly Race and the Law.)

Introduction to wildlife, wilderness, and natural resources law, policy, and management. Examines rules governing resource allocation and use including discussion of fundamental legal concepts. Explores laws and management policies affecting wildlife and wilderness, including their origins and impacts. Examines how conflicts over natural resources are being negotiated today.

Explores the role of law in both enabling and constraining the actions of elected politicians in the U.S. Among issues examined are voting rights, redistricting, and campaign finance. Course asks how the law shapes and limits our ability to choose our elected leaders, and in turn, how the law is shaped by political forces.

International environmental law (IEL) endeavors to control pollution and depletion of natural resources within a framework of sustainable development and is formally a branch of public international law—a body of law created by nation states for nation states, to govern problems between nation states. Examines landmark developments of IEL since 1972 within a historical continuum to better understand their strengths and weaknesses.

Explores complex international human rights/humanitarian law issues surrounding genocide and other mass violence, beginning with the Nuremberg trials following World War II up to recent atrocities in Rwanda, Bosnia, and elsewhere. Covers basic legal framework of human rights law, examines specific situations on a case by case basis, and discusses what options the international community, the nations themselves, and individuals have in the wake of such catastrophes.

Introduction to topics in the philosophy of law. Begins by discussing some famously difficult legal cases. These motivate students to consider more generally how to theorize about law and legality. Course ends by examining a handful of modern legal issues from a philosophical perspective. Course asks students to formulate and defend their positions on classic and contemporary legal debates and provides them tools from moral and legal philosophy with which to work.

Explores how local land use and planning objectives are defined and determined by federal, state, and (most importantly) local law. Focuses on California, and on California municipal law issues. Housing, transportation, water supply, regional government, environmental protection, natural resource protection, urban sprawl, and growth management issues are addressed as students learn how federal, state, and local laws relate to city urban planning problems.

Explores the legal rights of children. Topics may include juvenile justice, gang offenses, free speech and Internet censorship, religious rights, child custody and support, adoption, foster care, abuse and sexual harassment, special needs, public benefits, and medical care.

A study of the role of courts in society and the uses of litigation to address and deflect social problems. Focus is on recent developments in American litigation, but comparative materials may be considered.

Explores U.S. laws and policies regarding immigration and citizenship from historical and contemporary perspectives. Includes studying landmark court cases, key statues and regulations governing immigration and citizenship, and scholarly treatments in order to critically examine historical developments and contemporary debates.

Lawyers stand between the legal system and those who are affected by it. Examines this relationship descriptively and normatively, and from the point of view of sociological theory. Concentrates on the U.S. profession, with some comparative material.

Explores some aspects of early American constitutional thought, particularly immediately preceding the American Revolution, situating early colonial constitutional thought within some of the larger themes and controversies of the 17th-century English constitutionalism, then considering some aspects of American constitutional thought in the founding period against the background of the colonial experience.

The rise of the regulatory state brings with it a host of questions regarding the exercise of state power and separation of powers. Takes up some of these questions; in particular, questions about administrative agencies and their relationship to the judiciary, the legislature and private individuals and groups. (Formerly Administrative Jurisprudence.)

Explores some themes in legal and political theory, especially on the relationship of theories of justice, law, and ethics.

Examines why we choose to memorialize some aspects of our history, but not others. What impact do those choices have on our contemporary politics and society? How may memorials help create a stronger democracy?

Begins with an examination of the concept of property, then covers how different cultures characterize property and determine ownership and the laws and policies that define property in modern society. Topics include theories of property law, common property, property and natural resources, zoning, regulatory takings, and intellectual and cultural property

Advanced study of the concepts, practices, and history of intellectual property. Topically, it is a study of how, when, and why you can own something like an idea, a story, a mathematical algorithm, a business process, or an arrangement of cells. Course is organized around different kinds of things one might own: artistic creation and representation (copyright), scientific discovery and invention (patents), and business processes and secrets (trademark and trade secrets). Studies different intellectual property regimes and the philosophical and moral issues underlying claims to intellectual property.

Introduction to how individuals, societies, and states answer fundamental questions about disability, including what is or is not a disability, what causes disability, and what the proper responses to the existence of disabilities are.

A practicum seminar for students seeking field experience in law- and policy-making settings. Designed to be combined with an internship; provides structured class meetings and work, including weekly field notes and a final paper.

Offers a basic introduction to key aspects of the Legal Profession, generally, as well as an introduction to the specific area of the profession known as Legal Aid -- the system and services through which under-served communities gain access to legal services. Course covers key elements of the legal profession and legal aid work, offering practical information and training on topics such as professional responsibility, ethics, confidentiality, interviewing skills, record keeping, communication, and working with diverse clients. It is particularly designed as a preparation or companion course for law-related internships and field student through courses such as OAKS 188B / LGST 188B (3 credits), OAKS 199, or LGST 185 Internship (5 credits). Enrollment by permission of the instructor.

Field research performed off-campus, under the supervision of a member of the legal studies faculty.

Provides a means for a small group of students to study a particular topic in consultation with a faculty sponsor. Students submit petition to sponsoring agency.

Preparation of a senior thesis over one, two, or three quarters, beginning in any quarter. When taken as a multiple-term course extending over two or three quarters, the grade and evaluation submitted for the final quarter apply to each of the previous quarters. Students submit petition to sponsoring agency.

Preparation of a senior thesis over one, two, or three quarters, beginning in any quarter. When taken as a multiple-term course extending over two or three quarters, the grade and evaluation submitted for the final quarter apply to each of the previous quarters. Students submit petition to sponsoring agency.

Preparation of a senior thesis over one, two, or three quarters, beginning in any quarter. When taken as a multiple-term course extending over two or three quarters, the grade and evaluation submitted for the final quarter apply to each of the previous quarters. Students submit petition to sponsoring agency.

Examines related legal topics from an interdisciplinary perspective. Each focuses broadly on the relationship between law as a distinct system and law as an attempt to achieve justice, which requires that law remain open to claims of political morality generally. To what extent are legal norms internal to a separate system called law and to what extent are claims of political right in general relevant to question of what law is?

Individual studies undertaken off-campus for which faculty supervision is not in person, but by correspondence. Students submit petition to sponsoring agency.

Individual studies undertaken off-campus for which faculty supervision is not in person, but by correspondence. Students submit petition to sponsoring agency.

A student normally approaches a faculty member and proposes a LGST 199 course on a subject he or she has chosen. Students submit petition to sponsoring agency.

A student normally approaches a faculty member and proposes a LGST 199 course on a subject he or she has chosen. Students submit petition to sponsoring agency.