USC Gould School of Law

USC Gould School of Law

First Amendment, Spring 2018

• Course: LAW 870 / Sections 03640, 04128

Thursday, 9:00 to 11:50 a.m., Room 101

Syllabus, Course Requirements and Grading Criteria

SUSAN E. SEAGER

CLASS PREPARATION AND ATTENDANCE:

Students are expected to attend class and read the assigned materials. Class discussion will commence with the assumption that everyone is thoroughly familiar with the assigned materials. Classes will be recorded, but will only be made available under special circumstances upon request directed to the instructor.

GRADING CRITERIA AND FINAL EXAMINATION:

The grade for this course will be determined by performance on a final examination and class participation, as explained below.

Final Examination

The final examination for this course will consist of essay questions. It will be a “take-home” examination with a word limit. Students will have eight (8) hours to complete the examination. The examination may be taken on any day during the law school’s examination period. The examination will be open book and open note. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited. Sharing or discussing the examination questions and/or answers with fellow students who have not yet taken the exam during the exam period is strictly prohibited. The examination will be based on reading assignments and matters discussed in class. The answers to the essay questions for the final examination will be graded on the basis of the thoroughness and effectiveness of the analysis. Answers which merely state conclusions, or answers without an explanation of the reasoning and analytical process, will receive little credit. Similarly, answers that recite abstract principles of law without applying them to the facts of the problem presented in the questions will receive little credit.

In-Class Exercises

In-class exercises will be held on a weekly basis beginning in the second week. Each studentis expected to participate in at leastonein-class exercise during the semester. Class exercises generally consist of students playing the roles of attorneys and/or justices arguing, debating and/or discussing important cases or controversies. Students who exhibit an outstanding performance in an in-class exercise will receive up toatwo-position boostto their final grade in the course. For example, a student who receives a grade of B on the final examination may receive a B+ or A- as their final grade due to an outstanding preparation and performance in the in-class exercise. Students who do not participate or who do not exhibit that they are prepared for their in-class exercise may receive as much as a two-position drop to their final grade in the course. For example, a student who receives a B on the final examination may receive a B-or a C+due to a sub-par performance, or failure to participate, in the in-class exercise. Students may perform a second in-class exercise but only after each student has participated in an in-class exercise. Students will be evaluated based on their best in-class exercise if they participate in more than one.

OFFICE HOURS:

The best way to reach me with your questions is to ask me after class or email me at or call my cell at (310) 890-8991. If I cannot handle the matter after class, by phone or e-mail, we can set up a separate appointment to meet in person. If we do not respond to an email within 24 hours, please call me or email me again because it is possible that your email may go into a spam folder.

REQUIRED TEXT:

Erwin Chemerinsky, Constitutional Law, Aspen Publishers, Fifth Edition (cited as "Constitutional Law" in this syllabus), plus the 2017 Supplement. I have added a few other cases in the course readings below, which students can find on the internet (Google Scholar is a great resource, also oyez.com), Westlaw or LexisNexis.

CLASS SCHEDULE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS FOR EACH CLASS

Classes meet on Thursdays from 9:00 to 11:50 am. The reading assignments are in a chart on the following pages.

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