Time Schedule:
Stephen J. Sandweiss
LSJ 363
Seattle Campus
Inquiry into how law matters in social practice. Examines general theories of law, the workings of legal institutions, and the character of legally constituted practices and relationships in diverse terrains of social life. Offered: jointly with POL S 363.
Class description
Description. This course will explore various aspects of the relationship between law and social practice. Through an analysis of the roles of legal institutions, actors, and norms, we will raise questions concerning the ways in which law is bound up in the distribution of power in society. Major topics to be explored include legal reasoning, disputing, tort reform, law and social change, police brutality, and the death penalty. There is no prerequisite for this course, but it is assumed that student shave a basic knowledge of American politics.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
Texts. Carter, Legal Reasoning; Greenhouse, Law and Community; Harr, A Civil Action; Skolnick and Fyfe, Above the Law; as well as a few videos and a course reader.
Class assignments and grading
Assignments. Two short papers and a longer take-home final.
Grading. TOTAL: 100 %
