Law and Social Change

Law 550A

Political Science 524

Course Outline and Readings

1. Introduction to the Course (January 10)

Topics

  • Course Goals

  • An Approach to Studying Responses to Judicial Policies

  • An Introduction to Social-Scientific Approaches to Law and Courts

  • Discussion of Assignment #1 (Canon and Johnson. Chapter 1)

Assignments for January 17

  • Canon and Johnson, Chapter 2

  • Epstein, Lee, Charles M. Cameron, Jeffrey A. Segal, Strategic Defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court (Funded by the National Science Foundation as SES-007996). Click here for a .pdf file containing this paper.

  • Cross, Frank B. and Emerson H. Tiller. 1998. Judicial Partisanship and Obedience to Legal Doctrine: Whistleblowing on the Federal Courts of Appeals. Yale Law Journal 107:55.

  • Take a look at Assignment #1. It's due on February 7.

2. The Interpreting Population I (January 17)

Topics

  • Overview of the American legal system

  • Lower court compliance with and defiance of higher courts

Assignments for January 24

  • Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978)

  • Hopwood v. Texas, 861 F. Supp. 551 (1994)

  • Hopwood v. Texas, 78 F. 3d 932 (1996)

  • Hopwood v. Texas, 84 F.3d 720 (1996)

  • Texas v. Hopwood, 518 U.S. 1033 (1996)

  • Gratz v. Bollinger, __ F. Supp. __ (E.D. Mich. 2000)

  • Remember that Assignment #1 is due on February 7.

3. The Interpreting Population II (January 24)

Topics

  • Overview of the American legal system

  • Case Study: Affirmative Action

Assignments for January 31

  • Canon and Johnson, Chapter 3

  • Wyatt v. Stickney, 325 F. Supp. 781(1971)

  • Wyatt v. Stickney, 344 F. Supp. 373 (1972)

  • Wyatt v. Aderholt, 503 F.2d 1305 (1974)

  • Note. 1975 "The Wyatt Case: Implementation of a Judicial Decree Ordering Institutional Change." Yale Law Journal 84:1338.

  • Assignment #1 is due on February 7.

4. The Implementing Population I (January 31)

Topics

  • Identity of the Implementing Population

  • To Implement or Not (or something in between)?

  • The (in)famous case of Wyatt v. Stickney

Assignments for February 7

  • School District of Abington Township v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203 (1963)

  • Birkby, Robert H. 1966. "The Supreme Court and the Bible Belt: Tennessee Reaction to the Schempp Decision." Midwest Journal of Political Science 10:305. Click here for a .pdf file containing this article.

  • Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961)

  • Orfield, Myron W., Jr. 1987. "The Exclusionary Rule and Deterrence: An Empirical Study of Chicago." University of Chicago Law Review 54: 1016.

  • Perrin, L. Timothy et al. 1998. "If It's Broken, Fix It: Moving Beyond the Exclusionary Rule." 83 Iowa Law Review 669 (1998)

  • Assignment #1 is due on February 7.

5. The Implementing Population II (February 7)

Topics

  • The Implementation (or Not) of the School Prayer Decisions

  • The Implementation (or Not) of Mapp

  • Discussion of Assignment #2

Assignments for February 14

  • Canon and Johnson, Chapter 4

  • Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966)

  • Cassell, Paul G. 1996. "Miranda's Social Costs: An Empirical Assessment." Northwestern Law Review 90: 387.

  • Schulhofer, Stephen. 1996. "Miranda's Practical Effect: Substantial Benefits and Vanishingly Small Societal Costs." Northwestern Law Review 90: 500

  • Assignment #2 is due on March 7.

6. The Consuming Population (February 14)

Topics

  • Finish Discussion of the Implementing Population

  • Identity of the Consuming Population

  • To Consume or Not?

  • Defendants and Miranda

Assignments for February 21

  • Canon and Johnson, Chapter 5

  • Eskridge, William N. Jr. 1991. "Overriding Supreme Court Statutory Interpretation Decisions." Yale law Journal 101: 331.

  • Meernik, James and Joseph Ignagni. 1997. Judicial Review and Coordinate Construction of the Constitution." American Journal of Political Science 41: 447. Click here for a .pdf file containing this article.

  • Dickerson v. United States, 530 U.S. __ (2000)

  • United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683 (1974)

  • Assignment #2 is due on March 7.

7. The Secondary Population I: The Federal Government (February 21)

Topics

  • An Overview of the Secondary Population

  • Congress

  • The President

Assignments for February 28

  • Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)

  • Review Canon and Johnson, pp. 3-16

  • Meier, Kenneth, et al. 1996. "The Impact of State-Level Restrictions on Abortion." Demography 33: 307. Click here for a .pdf file containing this article.

  • Hansen, Susan. 1980. "State Implementation of Supreme Court Decisions: Abortion Since Roe v. Wade." Journal of Politics 42:372. Click here for a .pdf file containing this article.

  • Assignment #2 is due on March 7.

8. The Secondary Population II: The States (February 28)

Topics

  • Finish Discussion of the Secondary Population I

  • Reactions from the States

  • A Look at State Responses to Roe v. Wade

Assignments for March 7

  • Calderia, Gregory A. 1986. "Neither the Purse Nor the Sword." American Political Science Review 80:1209. Click here for a .pdf file containing this article.

  • Calderia, Gregory A. 1987. "Public Opinion and the Supreme Court: FDR's Court-Packing Plan." American Political Science Review 81: 1139. Click here for a .pdf file containing this article.

  • Franklin, Charles F. and Liane C. Kosaki. 1995. "Media, Knowledge, and Public Evaluations of the Supreme Court." In Contemplating Courts, ed. Lee Epstein. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.

  • Franklin, Charles F. and Liane C. Kosaki. 1989. "Republican Schoolmaster: The U.S. Supreme Court, Public Opinion, and Abortion." American Political Science Review 83:751 Click here for a .pdf file containing this article.

  • Hoekstra, Valerie J. and Jeffrey A. Segal. 1996. "The Shepherding of Local Public Opinion: The Supreme Court and Lamb's Chapel." Journal of Politics 58:1079. Click here for a .pdf file containing this article.

  • Assignment #2 is due on March 7.

9. The Secondary Population III: The People (March 7)

Topics

  • Public Support for the Court

  • The Media, the Court, and Its Decisions

  • The Court as a Republican Schoolmaster?

  • Discussion of Assignment #3

Assignments for March 21

  • Canon and Johnson, Chapter 7

  • Dahl, Robert. 1957. "Decision-Making in a Democracy: The Supreme Court as a National Policy Maker." Journal of Public Law 6: 279.

  • Casper, Jonathan D. 1976. "The Supreme Court and National Policy-Making." American Political Science Review 70:50. Click here for a .pdf file containing this article.

  • Bush v. Gore __ U.S. __ (2000)

  • Assignment #3 is due on April 20.

10. The Impact of Judicial Decisions I: Judicial Review (March 21)

Topics

  • Overview of Impact

  • Judicial Review

Assignments for April 4

  • Brown v. Board of Education I, 347 U.S. 483 (1954)

  • Brown v. Board of Education II, 349 U.S. 294 (1955)

  • Rosenberg, The Hollow Hope (read the whole book)

  • Assignment #3 is due on April 20.

11. The Impact of Judicial Decisions II:
Can Courts Generate Social Change? (April 4)

Topics

  • The Hollow Hope

Assignments for April 11

  • County of Washington v. Gunther, 452 U.S. 161 (1982)

  • McCann, Rights at Work (read the whole book)

  • Assignment #3 is due on April 20.

12. The Impact of Judicial Decisions III:
Can Courts Generate Social Change? (April 11)

Topics

  • Rights at Work

Assignment