Spring 2008 Course Offerings (as of 11/20/07)
107: Theories of Justice
109: Aims and Limits of the Criminal Law
121: Law in the Bible
140: Property & Liberty
145: Law & Economics I
161: Law in Chinese Society
168: Sex, Reproduction & the Law
179: Comparative Constitutional Law
190.1: The Supreme Court & Public Policy
190.2: Basic Legal Values
190.3: European Legal History
190.4: Law & Film
190.6: Federalism & Individual Rights
H195A: Honors Research 199: Independent Study
Subject to change.
Please check the Online Schedule of Classes (http://schedule.berkeley.edu) for the most up-to-date information.
Course Details:
107: Theories of Justice Song
MW 4-5:30 50 Birge 4 units Area I
(101) Wednesday, 2-3pm, 201 Giannini (102) Friday, 9-10am, 2311 Tolman (103) Monday, 10-11am, 41 Evans (104) Monday, 1-2pm, 80 Barrows
This course explores three fundamental questions about the idea of a just society and the place of the values of liberty and equality in such a society: (1) Which liberties must a just society protect? Liberty of expression? Sexual liberty? Economic liberty? Political liberty? (2) What sorts of equality should a just society ensure? Equality of opportunity? Of economic outcome? Political equality? Equality for different religious and cultural groups? (3) Can a society ensure both liberty and equality? Or are these opposing political values? We will approach these questions by examining answers to them provided by three contemporary theories of justice: utilitarianism, libertarianism, and egalitarian liberalism. To assess the strengths and weaknesses of these theories, we will discuss their implications for some topics of ongoing political controversy that exemplify our three fundamental questions about liberty and equality: the enforcement of sexual morality, financing schools and elections, regulating labor markets, affirmative action, and abortion. We will conclude by examining issues of global justice and human rights.
ccn: 51506
109: Aims and Limits of the Criminal Law Kutz
TuTh 12:30-2:00pm 60 Evans 4 units Area III or IV
(101) Monday, 10-11am, 79 Evans (102) Wednesday, 10-11am, 79 Dwinelle (103) Friday, 9-10am, 79 Dwinelle (104) Wednesday, 9-10am, 2311 Tolman
Course focuses on the analysis of the capacity of criminal law to fulfill its aims. What are the aims of criminal Law? How are they assigned relative priority? What principles can be identified for evaluating the effort to control disapproved activities through criminal law? ccn: 51521
121: Law in the Bible Smith
MW 4-5:30pm 242 Hearst Gym 4 units Area I or II
(101) Friday, 10-11am, 88 Dwinelle
In the first two-thirds of the course, we will study the divine laws for human beings, and especially for the Israelites, according to the Hebrew Bible. In the last third we will see what happens to these laws in the New Testament. Throughout the course we will talk more about the general characteristics of the divine laws than their particular terms. Almost all of the assigned readings will be in the Bible itself. ccn: 51551
140: Property & Liberty Brown
TTh 11:00am-12:30pm 390 Hearst Mining Area I or III
(101) Monday, 8-9am, 115 Kroeber (102) Wednesday, 9-10am, 115 Kroeber (103) Tuesday, 4-5pm, 228 Dwinelle (104) Tuesday, 4-5pm, 228 Dwinelle
The course will explore the relation between property law and limits of liberty in different cultures and at different times. The course will cover theories of property law, slavery, the clash between aboriginal and European ideas of property, gender roles and property rights, common property systems, zoning, regulatory takings, and property on the internet. Readings will include legal theorists, court cases, and historical case studies. ccn: 51566
145: Law & Economics I Rubinfeld, McCrary
TTh 9:3o-11:00am 50 Birge 4 units Area I or III
(101) Wednesday, 3-4pm, 55 Evans (102) Wednesday, 2-3pm, 55 Evans (103) Monday, 12-1pm, 39 Evans (104) Monday, 1-2pm, 115 Kroeber
This course uses the concepts and tools of economics to analyze problems in law, focusing on contracts, property, torts, and legal process. Students will be expected to apply the analysis to broad array of legal issues. ccn: 51581
161: Law in Chinese Society Berring
TuTh 9:30-11am 160 Kroeber 4 units Area II
(101) Tuesday, 8-9am, 55 Evans (102) Tuesday, 8-9am, 115 Kroeber (103) Monday, 12-1pm, 61 Evans (104) Wednesday, 1-2pm, 115 Kroeber (105) Monday, 4-5pm, 51 Evans (106) Wednesday, 12-1pm, 45 Evans
This course examines the legal system of China, from its cultural basis to the implications for modernization and China’s participation in the international community. Philosophy, drama, and art will be used to understand the culture and major historical periods which influenced China’s legal traditions and key concepts. The 20th century will be reviewed in some detail, including the Republic both on the mainland and on Taiwan, and the People’s Republic in both the Maoist and current eras, leading to examination of current legal practices in both Taiwan and mainland China. ccn: 51596
168: Sex, Reproduction & the Law Hollinger
TuTh 9:30-11am 102 Wurster 4 units Area III
(101) Tuesday, 8-9am-11am, 115 Kroeber (102) Tuesday, 8-9am, 8-9am, 31 Evans (103) Monday, 9-10am, 115 Kroeber (104) Monday, 11am-12pm, 61 Evans
Why and how does the State regulate sex, sexuality, and reproductive behavior? What are the personal and societal consequences of our technological capacity to separate sex from reproduction? A number of legal and social issues will be analyzed, including sterilization, access to contraception and abortion, adolescent sexuality and statutory rape, the legal status of fetuses and frozen embryos, and the parentage of children conceived through assisted reproduction. ccn: 51617
179: Comparative Constitutional Law Shapiro
TuTh 12:30-2pm 102 Wurster 4 units Area III or IV
(101) Wednesday, 1-2pm, 109 Wheeler (102) Thursday, 4-5pm, 101 Wheeler (103) Monday, 4-5pm, 187 Dwinelle (104) Monday, 8-9am, 179 Stanley
An examination of constitutional decision making in a number of countries based on selected high court opinion. ccn: 51632
190.1: The Supreme Court & Pubic Policy Shapiro
Tu 3-6pm 20 Barrows 4 units Area III or IV
A policy, as opposed to legal, analysis of a number of earlier and recent Supreme Court decisions. ccn: 51647
190.2: Basic Legal Values Dan-Cohen
Tu 5-7pm 204 Wheeler 3 units Area I
Although everyone agrees that law promotes some values, what these values are is often unclear and controversial. This is increasingly the case the more we come to recognize cultural diversity and moral pluralism faced by the law. In this seminar we will examine a number of values that have been advanced within the liberal tradition, such as well-being, autonomy, and dignity, and consider their potential role in shaping or explaining a wide range of legal disputes. The seminar will divide into two parts. In the first, we’ll get acquainted with these values in the context of the two main strands in liberal moral theory – utilitarianism and Kantianism – and consider some general issues concerning the meaning of these values and their interrelationships. The second part will consist of student presentations on specific substantive topics in which the general issues discussed in the first part arise. Enrollment is restricted. ccn: 51650
To receive permission to enroll, email Professor Dan-Cohen (dan-cohen@law.berkeley.edu) and include your major, any philosophy coursework you’ve done, and a short statement of interest in the course. He will email you back with either a Class Entry Code that allows you to register via TeleBEARS, or a message to put yourself on the waitlist. If you are instructed to put yourself on the waitlist, you will be notified during the first class meeting if you will be admitted into the course.
190.3: European Legal History McClain
MWF 10-11am 115 Kroeber 4 units Area II
Main themes in European legal history: topics include classical Roman law, Justinian’s codification (6th century A.D.), the medieval revival of Roman law in Italy and elsewhere, medieval canon law (the law practiced in the ecclesiastical courts), the jus commune (amalgam of Roman, canon and indigenous law that prevailed in Europe until the modern period), the law merchant, the beginnings of the English common law, early modern developments in continental Europe and England, nineteenth-century codification, twentieth century developments. ccn: 51653
190.4: Law & Film Sassoubre
M 2-6pm 185 Barrows 3 units Area I
In this seminar we will explore representations of law in 20th century American film. The themes we will address include: the asymmetry of law and justice, the relationship between law and social change, the public and private identities of lawyers, and anxiety that the rule of law fails individuals and minorities. We will also attend to the convergence of narrative and dramatic practices in legal proceedings and cinematic productions. ccn: 51656
190.6: Federalism & Individual Rights Brown
M 4-7pm 180 Barrows 3 units Area I & II
The opponents of the federal Constitution in 1787 insisted that the new government write into the Constitution limitations on the power of the federal government and a pledge that all powers not given to the federal government would be retained by the people and the states. Yet in 2007, the federal government, through Supreme Court rulings and Congressional legislation, defines the rights of individuals and limits the ability of states to invade those rights. The ultimate irony of the Constitution is that the Bill of Rights, which was intended to limit the federal government, became the means by which federal government power expanded dramatically. We will begin by tracing the relationship of federalism and individual rights from the framing through the adoption of the Civil War amendments, then examine the constitutional settlement of the Lochner era and the dramatic 20th-century restatement of federal-state relations in 1937. We will then study the Warren Court’s creation of a new constitutional order of individual rights, and the ratification of those rights in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, ending with a survey of the current battle on the Roberts Court between two different sets of constitutional values. ccn: 51660
199: Independent Study 1-4 units, P/NP
Legal Studies 199 is open to officially declared Legal Studies Seniors with a 3.0 GPA in the major and a 3.0 UC GPA. Independent study is a research paper the student produces under the direction of a faculty member. In order to enroll, the student must develop a proposal and find a Legal Studies faculty member who is willing to serve as director. Ideally, the student should have already taken at least one course from the faculty member in the area which s/he wishes to research. The student should submit a written proposal to the faculty member outlining the scope and length of the research project s/he would like to do. A general guideline is one unit of credit per ten pages of text in the final research paper, up to a maximum of four units. The consent of the supervising faculty member should be secured prior to the first week of the semester. Once a student has secured faculty permission, the student should see the Undergraduate Advisor for the requisite form. Note: LS 199 can only be taken P/NP, but it is applicable towards the 32 upper division units in the major.
H195A: Honors Thesis 4 units
Legal Studies seniors with a 3.5 GPA in the major, and an overall UC GPA of 3.3 are eligible for the Legal Studies Honors Program and, if they successfully complete it, will graduate with honors in Legal Studies. Honors students must enroll in LS 198, the honors seminar, offered in the fall prior, and complete a substantial research paper under the supervision of a Legal Studies faculty member. Under exceptional circumstances a student will be permitted to complete a two-semester honors project for eight units of credit. Students are assigned a letter grade as well as a level of honors upon graduation. The level of honors is determined by the Program based on the student’s final grade point average in the major and on the quality of the completed honors thesis. Interested students should contact the Undergraduate Advisor for details and forms.