June Summer Session Course

The U.S. Legal System

Political Science 222: 9625

PROFESSOR MICHAEL PARIS

michaelpari@gmail.com

June 1—28.

Hybrid: Class Meets in Building 2N, Rm. 107

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:30 to 10:00 p.m.

Seven Hours Online Each Week

                                                                                          

     

This introductory survey course examines the role of law in American society and politics.  The course covers a broad range of topics in legal studies, including:  (1) the nature of law and the logic of legal reasoning; (2) feminism and the law; (3) crime and punishment; (4) the legal profession, legal education, the “adversary ethic”; (5) law and morality; and (6) the jury system.  Throughout, we will be concerned with law and its relationships to cultural change, political conflict, and morality.  This course will also include viewing and responding to several films, including:  A Thin Blue Line (death penalty); State v. Coon, Powell, et al. (Rodney King Trial); and 12 Angry Men.