The theme of this course is that the judiciary is a political institution in the American scheme of government. Over the next several weeks we will examine a variety of topics that illustrate the political nature of the judiciary at both the state and federal level. Among these topics are the structure of individual courts and the court system generally and the many actors who participate in and affect the outcome of court business (e.g. lawyers, judges, juries, and interest groups). Additionally, we will examine judicial politics through the processes by which civil and criminal disputes arrive at and are resolved in courts, and how these cases are heard and decided in different courts. Appellate courts are a significant part of the judicial process as well, and we will end the semester with a discussion of their role in the politics of the judiciary. By the end of the semester, you will understand how the judiciary is much more than a legal institution and how it is a fundamental part of American politics. 

This course has an analytic objective as well. A significant part of your edification as a student and future professional is to learn how to think, read and write critically. To this end, we will ask questions, synthesize various sources of information, develop new ideas and insights, and formulate arguments. We will develop these skills by talking, reading and writing.

There is a lot of work to complete in this course. Examine the syllabus carefully to be sure that you are prepared to meet the requirements. It is your responsibility to have your questions about the course answered early in the semester and to commit to the expectations of the course.

Required Reading

Texts: Baum, Lawrence. 2002. American Courts: Process and Policy. 5th edition. (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company). (Abbreviated as B in Course Outline)

Diascro, Jennifer Segal and Gregg Ivers. 2006. Inside the Judicial Process: A Contemporary Reader in Law, Politics and the Courts. (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company). (Abbreviated as DI in Course Outline)

Other: I may add other reading assignments to the Course Outline (below) as the semester progresses. I will post these assignments on Blackboard. They may be Supreme Court or other court cases, news articles, web sites, and scholarly and popular articles. You will be able to access these readings via e-reserves, by hyperlink from Blackboard, LexisNexis (LN) (on the Bender site), FindLaw (http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html), or other website that contains a database of court decisions. 

Blackboard

All students must have access to and know how to use Blackboard. I use Blackboard frequently to post assignments and to make announcements. You should check our course Announcement page before each class period. If you do not know how to use Blackboard, contact AU Technology for assistance. They offer tutorials for various technology related needs. Their website is http://www.american.edu/technology/sites/helpdesk/section.dfm?ID=1. 

Course Requirements

1. Attendance. I do not take attendance, BUT I strongly encourage you to attend every class section and expect you to take personal responsibility for material covered in classes that you miss. I will not provide lecture notes and I do not give makeup lectures in office hours for missed class periods. 
   

2. Weekly Reading Assignments. All the reading assigned in this syllabus and added throughout the semester is required. This means that you should read all of the material and be prepared to be examined on it EVEN IF we do not discuss it in class. Our class discussion will focus primarily on the Diascro and Ivers text, current events, and homework assignments, but it will rely on your understanding of the Baum text. It is your responsibility to keep up with the Baum assignments and to ask questions when necessary. 
   
   You should read the appropriate material prior to the class for which it is assigned, be prepared to discuss and ask questions about it, and to be examined on it. You should also bring textbooks to class each week. 
   

3. News Articles. Every week you are required to bring to class ONE news article that is about the topic on the syllabus for that week (ex. if the syllabus indicates criminal courts for the week, the article should be about a criminal justice issue; if it indicates judges for the week, the article should be about an issue related to judges). The article should be no more than two weeks old. You must highlight or underline the portions of the article that demonstrate its relevance to the week’s topic. Be prepared to talk about your article and the news more generally. Articles can be accessed on-line at either the sources’ website or on LexisNexis by doing a News search. If you clip the paper versions of the newspaper, you must photocopy them onto 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper for easier collection and recording. Additionally, be sure that your name, the news source and the date of your article are clearly printed on the article. 
   You will turn in your articles IN CLASS; I do not accept articles early or late, unless you have a recognized excuse (see Missed Assignments below). You will earn a + (1 point) if your article meets all the requirements or a – (0 points) if you do not turn in an article that meets all the requirements or if you do not turn in one at all. You may miss ONE week without penalty. This assignment will be worth 10% of your final course grade.
   

4. Midterm and Final Exam. There will be one midterm exam and a final exam administered in class on the dates indicated in the Course Outline (below). All material we cover in class and in the readings, including news articles we discuss, films we see, guest speaker we hear, will be open to examination. The exams are likely to include a combination of subjective and objective questions and will be about 2 hours long. I will give you an idea of the number and format of the exams as the times comes closer, but there will be NO review sessions for the exams. The final exam will be cumulative insofar as terminology and understanding of the completed material may be required for subsequent exams, but there will be no specific questions from the earlier material. Each exam will be worth 30% for a total of 60% of your final course grade.
   

5. Weekly Syntheses and Questions. I will divide the class into two groups. Each student in each group will be responsible for synthesizing the week’s readings for each of 5-6 weeks during the semester (according to a schedule to be announced Week 2). For the weeks that you do not write a synthesis, you will be responsible for answering a question(s) to facilitate class discussion. I will provide more substantive information about the syntheses in class Week 2. I will provide questions on Blackboard. Both assignments must be typed. The syntheses will be graded on a 10 point scale for clarity, analysis, and attention to instructions, and will be worth 20% of your final course grade. The questions will receive either a + (1 point) or a – (0 points) for attention to instructions and effort, and will be worth 10% of your final course grade.

Grading Policy

According to University policy (see http://www.american.edu/american/registrar/statem.htm#grade), final course grades earned in this class will be the following: A=4.0, A-=3.7, B+=3.3, B=3.0, B-=2.7, C+=2.3, C=2.0, C-=1.7, D=1.0, F=0. Individual assignments in this course will be graded on a standard 100 point scale (or its equivalent) such that an A=95%, A-=92, B+=88, B=85, B-=82, etc. You should understand that only excellent work will earn an A. If the work is good, it will earn a B, and satisfactory work will earn a C. You will earn Ds and Fs if your work is less than satisfactory or of extremely poor quality. If you fail to complete the work, you will earn a 0 for the assignment. 

Grading Written Assignments

Even though this is a political science class, you are responsible for well written papers and other assignments. As a result, all of your assignments will be graded for substance as well as for English and writing skills (which includes, but is not limited to, appropriate grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence/paragraph structure), although there will be more room for error on in-class exams. [See http://www.american.edu/american/registrar/ugreg.htm for more information on the University’s emphasis on the development of writing skills.] If you need help with your writing skills, please feel free to see me during office hours and/or visit the Academic Support Center (www.american.edu/ocl/asc/).

Cheating and Plagiarism

The University has detailed rules about cheating and plagiarism. I encourage you to read these policies in the Academic Integrity Code at http://www.american.edu/american/registrar/aic.htm. Neither cheating nor plagiarism will be tolerated in this course. The fullest penalty allowed by the University will be sought if any student is found to be in violation of these rules on assignments for this course.

Missed Assignments

All students are expected to be in class to turn in assignments and take exams, unless otherwise indicated on the syllabus. Assignments may NOT be submitted via email or on a floppy disc or CD. Make-ups and extensions will be allowed only for excused absences. These include the death of an immediate family member (parent, sibling, or grandparent), personal illness, a scheduled University event (for athletes or those involved in clubs that take them off campus), or a major religious holiday that is not formally recognized by the University’s calendar (see http://www.american.edu/academic.depts/provost for the Provost’s announcement of these holidays). You MUST provide written documentation for these absences. Additionally, for University events and religious holidays, you must submit your excuse two weeks in advance of the absence to be excused. If you meet these conditions, you will be able to make up assignments (the makeup assignment will be different than the original assignment) or turn in a paper as close to the original due date as possible (which may be before the due date). If there is some other reason for you to miss an assignment (e.g. a previously scheduled family engagement), you must inform me within the first week of classes to be considered eligible to make up the assignment; this is not a guarantee that you will be allowed to make up the assignment. If you do not meet these conditions, you will receive a zero for the assignment. IMPORTANT: You should discuss make up assignments with me as soon as you are aware of them in office hours or by email; I will not discuss these arrangements in class. 

Late Assignments

Assignments submitted after the time and date at which they are due, and that are NOT accompanied by an acceptable excuse (as described above) will be addressed as follows. For every 24 hour period after the date and time that the assignment is due, the grade received for the assignment will be decreased by two (2) parts of a grade. The 24 hour periods include weekends. For example, if you turn in an A quality assignment on Thursday before 11:20a, after it was due on Tuesday at 11:20a, then the assignment will be 2 days late and you will earn a B- on that assignment. If you turn in a B quality paper at that same time, you will earn a C-.

You may submit a late assignment in only one of two ways: (1) directly into my hands, or (2) at the Department of Government office, where it must be time and date stamped (be aware of the office’s hours). You should tell me that you have turned in a late assignment so I know to look for it in the Department office. 

Manners

In consideration of your classmates and me, you should observe the following rules: (1) DO set your cell phones and pagers to silent and answer them only in an emergency (e.g. child care or medical for you or an immediate family member). If you leave class to answer a call, you may not return to class until we break. (2) Do NOT arrive late to class unless you have advanced approval; you may arrive during the break for the second part of class. (3) Do NOT do homework for other classes or read material not related to this class. (4) Do NOT use a laptop computer or audio taping equipment unless you have approval from me. (5) Do NOT pass notes or chat in class. For any of these infractions, you will be warned only once; after the warning, you will be excused from class and docked 2 percentage points of your total course grade for each infraction at the end of the semester.

Course Outline and Reading Assignments (dates are approximate)