The topics of this course include sources of law; finding law, lawyers, and courts; the litigation process (trial and appellate); privileges such as lawyer-client, doctor-patient, and interspousal rights of privacy; owning real estate, zoning, mortgages, and eminent domain; tort law (negligence and malpractice); contracts; commercial code and loans; criminal law; employment law; family law; landlord and tenant; and business forms and fiduciary obligations. (4 credits)
LSTU E-103 Criminal Law and the Constitution
Fall term (13811)
Bruce Hay, JD, Professor of Law, Harvard Law School.
Wednesdays beginning Aug. 31, 7:35-9:35 pm. Optional sections to be arranged.
This course examines the ways in which the US Constitution limits the powers of government to use the criminal law as a technique of social control. Topics include limits on government's authority to criminalize certain behaviors, or to employ particular forms of punishment; limits on the powers of investigative powers of the police; and the constitutional requirements for jury trials in criminal cases. Our main interest is in understanding, and critically analyzing, the shifting constitutional ruling handed down by the United States Supreme Court, with emphasis on contemporary problems and debates. (4 credits)
LSTU E-107 Courts and Social Change
Fall term (13818)
Akiba J. Covitz, PhD, Lecturer on Law and Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, Harvard Law School.
In this course, we ask ourselves what roles the courts in the United States—all courts, not just the Supreme Court, but also other federal and state courts—can play, do play, and should play in bringing about social change. We begin by asking why American courts are structured as they are, from the perspective of the Constitution. We then consider how American courts are organized, both internally and in how they relate to other parts of government. We analyze the role of lawyers and judges, criminal and civil courts and cases, and the structure of the appellate process. Finally, the course carefully analyzes the role the courts have and have not played in attempting to end racial segregation and discrimination in the United States. (4 credits)
LSTU E-108 Cases in the Supreme Court
Spring term, Section 1 (23453)
Bruce Hay, JD, Professor of Law, Harvard Law School.
This seminar is an in-depth study of approximately 10 cases that will be argued and decided in the United States Supreme Court during the 2011-12 term. The course exposes students to current controversies in the law, to the political dynamics of the Court, and to the ways in which cases are argued by lawyers and decided by the justices. (4 credits)
LSTU E-109 Constitutional Law
Spring term (23683)
Akiba J. Covitz, PhD, Lecturer on Law and Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, Harvard Law School.
In this course, we study the Constitution of the United States, the law that develops out of that document, and how that law is made. Most broadly, we focus in this course on the underlying nature of the American constitutional system as it relates to constitutional law. The operation of the American constitutional system of government is contingent on three separated federal powers and the maintenance of relations between the other key actors in that system. One of the central elements of tension in the history of American constitutional law is the ever-changing relationship between the federal government and the states. How does American constitutional law seek balance among all these actors? We also try to understand why it is that the US Supreme Court has become by far the loudest voice in interpreting the text of the Constitution. Are the other branches of government and all the other actors in the American constitutional system (including the elected branches, as well as the individual citizens who elect those branches) less capable of interpreting that text? What other options are there besides the Supreme Court playing this dominant role in interpreting the document that is supposed to be the constitution of all the people? (4 credits)
LSTU E-120 Internet and Society: Technologies and Politics of Control
Spring term (22054)
Robert Faris, PhD, Research Director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University.
Tuesdays beginning Jan. 24, 5:30-7:30 pm. Optional sections to be arranged.
This course examines current legal, political, social, and technical struggles for control of the global Internet—and the content and relationships it conveys. The course focuses on the interaction of new technologies and services with emerging models of production, innovation, communication, learning, and civic engagement—looking at both the US and international contexts. Prerequisites: willingness to experiment with new technologies, and to participate in class discussions, whether virtually or in person. (4 credits)
LSTU E-145 Censorship of Obscene, Blasphemous, Incendiary Materials: Legal, Ethical, and Policy Issues
This course explores how America's legal and social systems cope with moral ambiguity and controversial ethical questions. It analyzes major cases concerning attempted or actual censorship of sexually explicit, religiously proscribed, and politically volatile written and visual materials. The course examines original documents as well as the commentaries, arguments, and actions about them. The course evaluates accompanying ethical, social, and policy implications and assesses various approaches to fundamental ethical dilemmas and the impact of law in contemporary society. (4 credits)