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Upper-Class Seminars
Seminars listed are those that have been offered in the past few years
and are likely to be offered again. Seminar offerings change frequently
in response to the research activity of individual faculty members and
student interest. Prerequisites for individual seminars may be
announced by the instructor at the time of registration.
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Advanced Legal Research Seminar (2)
The objective of this seminar is to give students an in-depth knowledge of general research tools and a good working knowledge of advanced tools available in specific subject areas. Both online and hard-copy resources are examined.
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Advanced Mediation Seminar (2)
This seminar addresses a variety of current issues in the practice of mediation. Topics include ethnicity, gender and power in mediation, the scope of confidentiality, the establishment and enforcement of ethical standards, mediation in the community, the role and practice of lawyers in mediation, the use of apology in mediation, the different settings in which mediation can take place, techniques of effective mediation, and mediation and justice. Additional topics are selected during the seminar. Students are expected to conduct independent research on selected topics, report to the seminar, and write a paper on their research. With permission of the instructor, students may conduct empirical research, or may participate in mediation and use their experience, together with other research, as a basis for analysis.
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Advanced Topics in Criminal Law Seminar (2)
This
seminar will examine a range of selected issues dealt with only in
passing, if at all, in the first-year Criminal Law course. The
overarching purpose of the course will be to explore the moral concepts
that underlie the substantive criminal law, particularly those of harm,
culpability, and wrongfulness. We will deal with issues involving both
the "general part" of the criminal law (the part that deals with general
rules and principles that apply to some or all of the range of criminal
offenses) and its "special part" (the part that identifies and defines
the specific offenses that are subject to criminal sanctions). Among the
topics dealt with will be the nature and purposes of punishment, the
act requirement, omission liability, causation, legality, complicity,
inchoate liability, justification, excuse, the codification of criminal
law, and various specific offenses such as homicide, rape, and theft.
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Banking Law Seminar (2)
This seminar will provide an overview of federal regulation of
commercial banking institutions, including such topics as the definition
of a bank, geographical product restrictions, mergers of banking
institutions and bank holding company regulations. The first half of the
semester will consist of readings and lectures intended to introduce
students to banking regulation. During the second half, students will be
expected to prepare and give presentations on specific issues of
current interest.
Prerequisite: Business Associations
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Art Law Seminar (2)
This seminar will examine how
the law shapes, contours, and constrains both the visual arts and
artists. Emphasis will be given to issues such as copyright protection
for artists; the moral and economic rights of artists; censorship and
First Amendment rights of artists; artists' business relationships;
public support for art and the display of art in public places;
preservation of art and cultural property; stolen art and forgeries; the
international movement of art, repatriation of cultural objects, and the
illicit international trade in art; and the role of museums in society.
In addition to casebook readings and weekly discussions, the class will
consider contemporary art controversies as a means of examining these
broader issues. Students will participate in a field trip to a local
museum or listen to a panel presentation by local gallery owners and
museum curators. Requirements for all students include: class
participation, an "op-ed" column on an assigned topic to be debated in
class, and a research paper. Class size will be limited to 20 students.
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Child Welfare System Seminar (2)
This
seminar will focus on the doctrinal and theoretical issues involved in
the child welfare system, as well as some of the issues that occur in
practice. Students will study state and federal statutes and case law,
as well as various law review articles to gain a comprehensive
understanding of how our child welfare system functions to protect
abused and neglected children, how the courts operate alongside and in
conjunction with this system, and whether all of this state intervention
is always in the best interest of the children. As such, there will be
classes on the concept of parens patriae and what it means in theory and
in practice, how child abuse and neglect are defined, when parental
rights should be terminated, what are the rights and entitlements of
older youth who are forced to turn 18 as a ward of the state, and
whether it is always best for children to be adopted when they cannot
return to their biological families, among other topics. In addition, to
provide students with a sense of what it is like to be an attorney
representing a child, parent, or the state in a child protection matter,
we will discuss the roles of each of these lawyers, as well as some of
the complicated ethical dilemmas that inevitably arise. Finally, toward
the end of the semester, the class will host a panel of attorneys
practicing in this area to share some of their insights and experiences.
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Children and the Law Seminar (2)
This seminar will examine the constitutional and public framework for allocating power and responsibility among children, parents, and the state. Explores selected legal topics relevant to this central theme, including child custody and child support; child abuse, neglect, and inadequate parenting; medical and psychiatric treatment; and educational rights. Considers the changing nature of childhood and the family and emphasizes sociological and psychological issues raised by the current legal structure.
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Comparative Corporate Governance Seminar (2)
Investigates and compares standards of performance applied to corporations and to their governing bodies and executives. The point of departure will be the U.S. system. The United Kingdom and France are used to represent, respectively, the Anglo-Saxon and Continental perspectives, without forgetting the impact of the European Union. To gain a fuller understanding, the social, historical, and cultural contexts that may help explain differences and similarities are also explored. Depending on the particular experience and language skills of seminar participants, other national perspectives may be considered.
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Cognitive Psychology for Lawyers (2)
The last 30 years have seen a veritable explosion of new knowledge and new
concepts of how people perceive, think, and decide. These stress that
most thinking and deciding is done without conscious thought or rational
deliberation. Named in various fields as "the new unconscious," "System
1 and System 2 Thinking," and "behavioral economics," these have
revolutionized the various academic domains where they have appeared.
Will they do the same for law? They shed new light on a broad range of
legal activities and doctrine - how lawyers persuade judges and juries,
how lawyers negotiate, how mediators work, the accuracy of witness
memory and perception, the nature of biases, the limits of free will and
legal responsibility, and so on. The seminar will explore these topics
through books written for the general public by important researchers in
the field. The second half of the seminar will be devoted to student
reports on approved research projects. Prior familiarity with academic
psychology is not required. In fact, a seminar composed of students with
a variety of backgrounds and experiences would be desirable. Grading
will be on the basis of a paper and class participation. Student papers
may be used to satisfy the Graduation Writing Requirement with the prior
written permission of the instructor.
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Computer Crimes Seminar (2)
This course
explores the growing field of cybercrime and the Fourth Amendment issues
arising in investigations involving computers, digital media and
digital communications. Discussion will include both legal and policy
issues now encountered by judges, legislators, prosecutors, and defense
counsel as they react to the ever-growing and changing computer-related
crime. We will consider the interplay between traditional laws,
investigations, and prosecutions, on the one hand, and cyberspace, on the
other. Topics include: computer crimes, such as computer hacking, logic
bombs, viruses, worms, cyberterrorism, Trojan horses, and identity
theft; criminal procedure, such as electronic surveillance and the
Fourth Amendment in cyberspace; and policy, including defining what
cyberconduct should be criminalized, identifying appropriate
resolutions, and discussing civil liberties online.
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Confinement, Reentry, and Policy Seminar (2)
Every
day in this country, nearly 1,800 people are released from prisons,
jails, and detention facilities - a number likely to rise in the ensuing
months with the implementation in California of the "population
reduction order" required by the U.S. Supreme Court in this year's
Coleman/Plata decision, and preemptive measures taken elsewhere. In
those states with the highest rates of confinement, the communities to
which offenders will return are disproportionately poor and racially
segregated. Legal, physical, psychological, financial, and social
barriers await their return; and, not surprisingly, more than two-thirds
of them will "reoffend" within three years of release. In many circles,
there is general agreement that the system, with its chronic
recidivism and ballooning cost, is "broken" and in critical need of
reform. The question that remains hotly debated, and that to which we
repeatedly will return over the course of the semester, is "How?" As
its title suggests, this interdisciplinary seminar examines the
roots of the challenges of reentry in the legal history of mass
incarceration, while at the same time tracing the contours of policy
skirmishes occurring in local, state, and federal arenas regarding "best
practices" for addressing this phenomenon. For our purposes,
this requires a study of how law - constitutional, statutory, and
judicially-rendered at the local, state, and federal levels - directly
impacts communities, public safety, justice, and human development, and
also how social categorizations of persons by gender, race, class, and
sexuality reflect and refract certain assumptions about deviance and
criminality. While the course takes a national arc, our focus will
remain local, with appropriate consideration given to New Jersey and New
York (in our assigned readings and featured guest speakers). In
addition to weekly written responses to assigned readings, a final
research paper (15+ pages, in the style of a law review/scholarly
article) is required (in lieu of an exam).
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Constitutional Theory Seminar (2)
This
seminar will focus on the use of constitutional theory in appellate
advocacy and judicial opinion writing. The goal is to develop the
student's ability to make effective use of political intuitions, values,
and concepts in legal argument. Topics will include textualism,
original intent, natural law, and political theory (including feminist
theory). Among the readings will be selections from Bruce Ackerman,
Derrick Bell, Robert Bork, John Hart Ely, Catherine MacKinnon, Martha
Minow, and Suzanna Sherry. In addition to reading and discussing the
theories themselves, we will critically examine their use in briefs and
judicial opinions.
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Corporate Governance Seminar (2)
Replicates the general counsel's office of a major corporation and acquaints students with a large transaction and its attendant legal and practical problems. It also replicates the day-to-day activities of such an office. The emphasis is on a transaction and other events which pose issues of corporate law and governance. Seminar members are expected to work individually and in teams, to present materials both orally and in writing, and to play active roles in the issues under consideration.
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Cultural Heritage Law Seminar (2)
This
seminar provides an introduction to the law pertaining to cultural
heritage such as ancient artifacts, historical relics, and fine art.
Topics covered include illicit antiquities trade, cultural heritage
protection in times of armed conflict, repatriation of colonially
acquired artifacts, repatriation of Nazi looted objects, repatriation of
Native American remains under NAGPRA, bilateral agreements between
source and market nations, and the role that museums and auction houses
play in the illicit antiquities trade. Each student will submit a
scholarly paper on a pertinent topic of their choice. One field trip to a
UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site will be included.
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Current Issues in Bankruptcy Seminar (2)
Stern v. Marshall
(U.S. Supreme Court, June 23, 2011) has the bankruptcy world buzzing.
Though it professes to respond to a "narrow" question, the majority
opinion refocuses attention on the fundamental unanswered issue of
whether "the restructuring of debtor-creditor relations is in fact a
public right" - a question which, if ultimately answered in the
negative, would remove non-Article III bankruptcy judges from their
day-to-day functions. The majority strikes down the adjudicatory
authority of bankruptcy judges in certain statutory "core proceedings"
and raises questions as to others. Stern v. Marshall
will be the starting point for the study of federal bankruptcy
jurisdiction and a number of substantive provisions of the Bankruptcy
Code. Given the breadth of subjects covered by the code either directly
or through incorporation of other law, and the bankruptcy niche within
the federal courts, the seminar should provide a capstone for the
student's law school experience. Research, statutory analysis, advocacy
within group discussion sessions, and legal writing skills are to be
employed. A principal goal of the seminar is to have each participant
realize confidence in her/his Rutgers Law-developed "legal index" and
enhanced professional skills.
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Developing a Solo or Small Firm Practice Seminar (2)
This
class focuses on the issues surrounding the development of a solo or
small firm practice, spanning legal, business, and ethical concerns, in
the context of how to structure a practice, how to build a client base,
how to develop a sustainable practice area, and how to manage the
practice once up and running. The course is designed particularly for
those students who are considering this option, so that the practice
they develop can survive and thrive.
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Domestic Violence Seminar (2)
This seminar
will examine the legal system's response to domestic violence, both
through the civil courts and the criminal justice system. Students will
review both criminal and civil laws and policies employed by law
enforcement and the judiciary in an effort to address family violence,
as well as scholarly articles and essays dealing with various legal
theories (feminist theory and critical race theory, e.g.). In addition,
students will look at the national Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and
will conduct a comparison of New Jersey's Prevention of Domestic
Violence Act and New York's Domestic Violence Act, in the context of
exploring the different nuanced approaches and collaborations involved
in various state actors' and social service providers' attempts to
address the legal and social needs of domestic violence victims. The
course will involve an exploration of some of the more controversial
methods used (mandatory arrest, compelled victim testimony, e.g.) that
continue to divide domestic violence scholars and
practitioners. Finally, to permit a practical component, students will
also participate in trips to the Essex County Family Court and will hear
from attorneys who represent domestic violence victims.
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Education Law Seminar (2)
This seminar
deals with the basic legal structure of the public education system and
explores a range of current legal and educational policy issues
confronting the public schools. These include: various aspects of equal
educational opportunity such as school finance reform, and racial and
socioeconomic diversity; state-local district relations and
responsibility for the quality of education provided; student rights;
and pupil classification and other means to meet special pupil needs. To
a substantial degree, the seminar uses pending cases and legislative
developments to illuminate the issues.
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Elder Law Seminar (2)
Elder law has been part of the curriculum since 1983-84 when the law school was among only a handful to anticipate the emergence of this new area of law. The legal community now recognizes that elder law, while not yet fully delineated, can be a self-contained area of practice in which attorneys may have to deal with their clients holistically. In addition, firms and solo practitioners recognize they can no longer conduct "business as usual" with their older clients without regard to the complex of federal and state statutory and administrative laws and public and private institutions to which older Americans are beholden for their daily existence. This seminar explores the resources, issues, and substantive law in representation of older Americans in their quest for economic and personal independence. Topics include income maintenance through devices in the public and private sectors; the maintenance of autonomy in the face of increasing vulnerability through use of surrogate decision-making devices; problems of health care and housing; and concerns for dying.
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Election Law and Political Process Seminar (2)
A practicum in politics and the electoral process. Examines federal and state constraints on political campaigning, with emphasis on the Federal Election Campaign Act. Among topics to be considered are presidential campaigning and the Electoral College; fundraising and reporting in federal elections; political activity by business and labor organizations; operation of political action committees; grassroots organizing and campaigning; the Federal Voting Rights Act and voter registration; broadcast regulation; election law reform; ballot access; the right to vote; election day operations; counting the votes and challenging the results; and political patronage.
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Federalism Seminar (2)
Federal-state relations are a subject of great controversy in
contemporary political debates and legal discourse, both in the United
States and the European Union ("EU"). This seminar will explore the
origins and history of federalism, competing theories of federalism, and
the current law and practice governing the relationship between the
federal and state governments.This seminar will examine (1)
federal preemption of state law, and the intersection of preemption
doctrines with both the federal government's preeminent role in foreign
relations and federal agencies' broad powers, (2) the scope of federal
common law after Erie Railroad v. Tompkins, (3) the dormant
Commerce Clause constraints on states, (4) whether and to what extent
"political protections" of federalism currently actually exist, (5)
contemporary debates regarding the breadth of the Commerce Clause and
other enumerated powers, and (6) interstate compacts and interstate
compact agencies as mechanisms for federal/state and state-to-state
cooperation. The seminar might also explore the EU's model for
EU/nation-state relations.The course will discuss issues that
are generally not covered in Constitutional Law or, if they are, only
superficially. Moreover, the historical and conceptual portion of the
seminar will provide new insights into even those federalism issues that
participants have covered in Constitutional Law.
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Financial Institutions Seminar (2)
Examines current issues affecting regulations of different institutions providing financial services, specifically focusing on the impact of deregulation on the financial services industry, the existing regulatory structure (administered by the SEC, federal and state bank regulators, stock exchanges and securities organizations), and recent proposals for functional regulations of financial products.
Prerequisite: Business Associations.
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Financial Crisis Seminar (2)
This
seminar examine the various financial products, financial institutions,
and regulators that played a role in the crisis. We will explore the
causes of the financial crisis, will consider whether the response to
the financial crisis is adequate to prevent a subsequent crisis, and
will explore alternative ways of handling financial firms in distress
(including under the Bankruptcy Code). There will be an emphasis on the
monetary implications of shadow banking and Dodd-Frank's failure to
provide a mechanism for addressing the monetary consequences of defaults
by financial firms.
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Gender and the Law Seminar (2)
Explores the intersections of
law, gender, and sexuality through the frameworks of constitutional
law, antidiscrimination
law, family law, and legal theory. Topics
include employment discrimination, reproductive rights, intimate
relationships, violence, and pornography. The seminar will explore
throughout these topics legal and social constructions of gender and
sexuality; privacy; autonomy; and the intersections of gender,
sexuality, class, race, and ethnicity.
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Gender, Gender Identity, Sexuality, and the Law Seminar (2)
This seminar will explore the intersections of law, gender, gender
identity, and sexuality through the frameworks of constitutional law,
anti-discrimination law, family law, and legal theory. Topics include
employment discrimination, intimate relationships, family, and violence.
The seminar will explore throughout these topics legal and social
constructions of gender (including gender identity) and sexuality,
privacy, autonomy, and the intersections of gender, sexuality, class,
race, and ethnicity.
Course not open to students who have taken Gender and the Law Seminar
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Hedge Fund and Investment Adviser Seminar (2)
This
seminar will focus on the private investment entities commonly referred
to as "hedge funds," as well as registered investment advisers. Hedge
funds and their advisers, which heretofore have generally not been
registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), play an
increasingly influential role in the financial markets. The regulatory
framework of hedge funds has been dramatically changed by the passage of
the Dodd-Frank Act, which generally requires the managers of hedge
funds to register as investment advisers with the SEC. The seminar will
address the legal and economic issues associated with different forms of
private investment entities, such as "traditional" hedge funds and
private equity funds, and the distinctions between domestic and offshore
funds, and review federal and state regulation of hedge funds and
investment advisers, including the new requirements for the registration
of hedge fund managers; the consequences of such registration to hedge
fund managers, investors, and the financial markets; the various
exceptions to registration; best practices in complying with the
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and applicable provisions of other
federal securities laws. The seminar will explore the process of forming
a hedge fund and a private equity fund, the operation of a hedge fund
and a private equity fund, including a review of the legal and business
issues and associated documents, and the process of registering as an
investment adviser. Seminar members will, individually and in teams,
participate in negotiations and the drafting of documents. Prerequisite: Business Associations
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History of American Corporate Governance Seminar (2)
Covers the history of corporate governance and regulation from the framing of the Constitution to the adoption of the New Deal era securities acts. Topics may include theories of the corporate form, the development of general incorporation statutes, innovations in corporate organization, political opposition to corporations, corporate corruption and scandals, women and corporations, the creation of a managerial class, the rise of corporate lawyering, the landmark role of New Jersey in state corporate regulation, and the origins of federal regulation of public companies.
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Human Trafficking Seminar (2)
This seminar
will examine the international and individual state legal frameworks to
combat trafficking in persons around the globe. Topics will include the
development and implementation of the Palermo Protocol, individual
state responsibility and responses, and substantive and procedural
challenges to effective enforcement of available legal measures. In
addition, we will examine specific populations and industries
particularly affected by trafficking.
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Immigration Policy Seminar (2)
Who should
be allowed to come to America: what mix of people who add value to the
economy, relatives of Americans, or who? Is the right to migrate a human
right? Should it be? What drives current patterns of migration, and how
responsive are they to legal regulation? Currently, lawful permanent
residence status automatically confers the right to stay, work, be
removed only for cause, and become a citizen. Should any or all of these
questions be decoupled from the others? Should the requirements to
become a U.S. citizen be revised? What are the implications of the ease
with which individuals may be citizens of more than one country? Will we
see increasing numbers of people holding multiple citizenship? Is this a
good or bad thing? What is the economic impact on U.S. workers and
consumers of current levels and forms of migration? Can the process of
permitting employers to sponsor immigrants be made more useful and
efficient for them without creating unacceptable risks of job loss or
downward wage pressure for U.S. workers? Can fair programs for temporary
workers be designed, or are they all exploitative? Must 75% of all
agricultural labor be performed by workers without any legal
authorization to be here? Can existing labor unions, or new worker
organizations, be given a formal role in the immigration process to
prevent exploitation of either migrant or US workers? Should the NAFTA
countries (Canada, U.S., Mexico) gradually evolve toward a single free
labor market on the model of the European Union? Or should border
security be made more effective? Should the concept of refugee include a
broader range of oppressed people, or remain limited to those who are
persecuted for group membership or political opinion? Do state and local
governments have any role to play in the regulation of migration?
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Institutional Reform Litigation Seminar (2)
Explores the use of litigation as a vehicle
for transformative institutional change on behalf of poor and disenfranchised
constituencies. It will examine the role of substantive law, legal procedure
and advocacy in advancing client interests as a group. Looking beyond judicial
forums, the seminar will examine litigation as a form of public advocacy, as a
means to lobby government and as a means to communicate with the press and
educate the public. It will consider how recovering attorney's fees relates to
the success or failure of institutional reform. As a model, the seminar will focus on an era of litigation over the last
30 years to change conditions, programs, management and even the governance of
jails and prisons, and other law enforcement practices. It will
evaluate whether such litigation led to successful periods of institutional
reform or created a backlash against perceived judicial activism that
diminished the ability of lawyers to protect individual rights. The seminar
will include practical considerations in the drafting and functions of a
complaint, the assembly of evidence from public documents and client testimony,
obtaining discovery and admissions from defendants, the role of experts,
initiating and managing negotiations, achieving resolution through trial or
consent orders, and the monitoring and enforcement of structural injunctions
and other remedial court orders.
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International Law and Terrorism Seminar (2)
Explores a number of basic questions: What is "terrorism"? Is the term legally meaningful? What other terminology could be used to denote the same phenomena? How can this type of violence be effectively punished and prevented? What is the role of the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations in this process? What is the role of international law such as treaties, customary international law, general principles? What are the roles of individual states? What limitations does international law place on the means that may be used to respond to such violence?
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International Protection of Human Rights Seminar (2)
Provides an overview of the international legal and institutional system for the protection of human rights. Material is looked at both from an academic perspective and from the point of view of the human rights practitioner, tackling difficult theoretical issues in the field as well as assessing the practical strengths and weaknesses of human rights law.
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International Women's Human Rights Seminar (2)
Examines questions of women's
human rights in international perspective. One of the most important
developments in international law in the last two decades has been its
increasing recognition of the universality and centrality of women's
rights. We will examine women's civil, cultural, economic, political,
and social rights under international law. Topics will include the
Women's Convention, cultural
relativism, religious fundamentalism and women's rights, the impact of
armed conflict on women, the role of women's organizations, women's
economic rights and empowerment, and violence against women.
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Islam, Secularism, and Human Rights Seminar (2)
This
seminar critically examines the theory and practice of Islamic and
secular governance, with special attention devoted to the rights of
women and religious minorities. The seminar will draw on international
human rights law, comparative constitutional law, and political
philosophy to explore the relationship between religion, the state, and
the individual. The seminar will relate the laws of selected
countries - including the United States, France, Turkey, India, Pakistan,
Saudi Arabia, and Iran - to broader intellectual and political
movements - including liberalism, republicanism, feminism,
multiculturalism, modernism, and fundamentalism.
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Issues in Higher Education Law Seminar (2)
This
course examines the legal issues that confront universities and the
laws, statutes, and regulations that govern them. This is a course more
about practice than theory. Rutgers itself will be a semester-long case
study and students will analyze issues and fact patterns based on
matters that were handled by Rutgers' attorneys or that have otherwise
impacted the university. This course will focus on topical issues and
study how societal changes and rapid technological developments over the
last few decades have translated into legal and policy issues for
universities, such as accommodations for students with disabilities;
students, faculty, or staff and mental health issues; social networks and
student life; DMCA and file-sharing; copyright in a digital age;
athletic programs and Title 9; FERPA, HIPAA, and privacy; Bayh-Dole and
commercialization of university intellectual property; ethics of
internet research; regulation of animal research and the tension between
the free flow of ideas and restriction of the export of certain data
and technologies to countries unfriendly to the United States. Students
will have the opportunity to choose issues of particular interest to
them to research more fully.
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Judicial Valuation Seminar (2)
Some of the theories, methodologies, processes,
and strategies employed by litigants and courts in legal valuation
disputes. Doctrinal areas covered may include corporate appraisal
rights, eminent domain, equitable distribution of marital property,
estate tax, damages for antitrust violations, torts, breach of
contract, securities fraud, and infringement of intellectual property
rights. Students will be required to perform original empirical
research concerning how valuation disputes are resolved in a specific
doctrinal context and to present their findings to the seminar both
orally and in a written paper.
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Juvenile Justice Seminar (2)
Examines the state's treatment of children and adolescents accused of unlawful behavior. Students will study the creation and evolution of the juvenile justice system in historical context. That exploration begins by assessing the legal, social, and historical underpinnings of the juvenile justice system at its creation in 1899, as well as the turn of
the century assumptions about childhood, punishment, and the judiciary's parens patriae responsibilities. Ultimately the historical exploration focuses
on the late 20th century ideological and institutional evolution of the juvenile court. Students will consider the United States Supreme Court's recognition of certain due process rights for juveniles, its subsequent rejection of others, and the ongoing effort to
reconcile the often competing goals of rehabilitation, punishment, and
procedural protection. The course would
then turn to current issues and challenges facing the juvenile justice system,
including: (1) the criminalization of youthful offending (e.g., waiver and transfer, erosion of confidentiality, and sentencing); (2) the
unique obligations of juvenile defense counsel; (3) institutional reform litigation; (4) disproportionate representation of minority youth in the juvenile justice system; and (5) efforts to integrate social sciences and
medical adolescent development research with juvenile justice policy and practice. The course will include student participation in one or two simulation exercises (for example, a juvenile court detention hearing).
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Labor and Employment Arbitration Seminar (2)
This seminar considers practice and procedure in public and private sector labor arbitration, and mandatory arbitration agreements for nonunion employees. The purpose of the seminar is to study the practical and legal aspects of the arbitration process and to consider the differences between labor arbitration in a union setting and mandatory arbitration for nonunion employees. Among the topics discussed will be sources of arbitration law, discovery techniques, submission of an issue to arbitration, conduct of the hearing, rules of evidence, burdens of proof, remedies, and the enforcement and vacation of an arbitrator's award. Each student is required to attend one actual arbitration and to write a posthearing brief. Guest lecturers include a labor arbitrator and a Superior Court judge.
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Labor Negotiations Seminar (2)
Presents an overview of the case law in the public and private sectors on negotiations practice and procedure, and a practical application of the law. Students initially participate in a few short mock negotiations. For the remainder of the semester, students are broken into teams and negotiate an actual labor contract. The last day of the semester students negotiate, as in actual labor negotiations, until a final agreement is reached. Students will each be required to write a memorandum of agreement memorializing the agreement reached. During the semester, students are required to solve a few short problems regarding scope of negotiations issues that grow out of semester-long negotiations. They are required to research a short legal memorandum for each problem. Guest lecturers include a mediator and a union and/or management negotiator.
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Law and Arab Spring Seminar (2)
The
revolutions of 2011 across North Africa and the Middle East raise
significant legal questions, including questions arising under
international law - especially in the field of human rights - but also
with regard to constitutional and other law reform processes within each
of the affected countries. In this seminar, coinciding with the first
anniversary of the start of what is now called "the Arab Spring," we
will examine many of these questions in depth. The class will also
consider the subsequent rise of fundamentalism, and the implications for
women's human rights. Geographically, we will look closely at recent
developments in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Syria, Yemen,
Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and beyond.
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Law and Armed Conflict (2)
This seminar critically examines the most important unresolved
issues in international law regarding the use of armed force, the
conduct of hostilities, and the aftermath of armed conflict. Topics may
included anticipatory self-defense, humanitarian intervention, targeted
killing, proportionality, force protection, human shields, military
occupation, and war crimes.
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Law & Public Policy Seminar (2)
This
seminar will focus on developing an understanding of the relationship
between law, public policy, and politics. We will explore this in the
context of concrete policy issues currently being debated in the state
of New Jersey, including but not limited to public employee pension and
benefit reform, education reform, and marriage equality. The student will
learn the skill set necessary to conduct an analysis of specific public
policy issues, identify emerging issues and evaluate why some issues
reach the forefront of the public agenda. A heavy emphasis will be
placed on the student actively participating during class since oral
communication is an essential skill for the lawyer who wishes to shape
and advance public policy. The course will include interactive
discussions of fundamental concepts illustrated by concrete policy
decisions, guest speakers, and written assignments. Evaluation will be
based on class participation, a short written assignment, and a project
focusing on a major public policy issue currently being debated in the state
of New Jersey that will be presented in a paper and to the class.
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Law Against Torture Seminar (2)
Torture is at the heart of human rights law and activism. This
interdisciplinary course will explore selected topics (legal, moral,
historical, psychological, inter alia) arising from the practice of
torture and efforts to define and prohibit it. United States,
international, and some comparative law will be considered. Topics will
include the Convention Against Torture; the Geneva Conventions; cruel,
inhuman, and degrading treatment; rendition; non-refoulement;
accountability; rape as torture, intelligence gathering, and national
security; targeted killings and other unintended consequences; and the
historical contexts of both torture and the campaigns to prohibit it.
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Law of Armed Conflict Seminar (2)
This
seminar critically examines the most important unresolved issues in
international law regarding the use of armed force, the conduct of
hostilities, and the aftermath of armed conflict. Topics may included
anticipatory self-defense, humanitarian intervention, targeted killing,
proportionality, force protection, human shields, military occupation,
and war crimes.
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Moral Puzzles of Criminal Law Seminar (2)
This seminar will explore and compare a number of legal
and moral concepts. Can someone "cause" a result by doing nothing? How should
the law treat a person who did the right thing but for a wrong reason? Should
people be able to consent to actions that would hurt them? These are only some
of the questions that will be discussed at this seminar. In addition to cases
and theoretical works, the seminar materials include movies, popular legal
nonfiction, and news stories.
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Police Interrogation and Miranda v. Arizona Seminar (2)
This seminar will examine the history of the self-incrimination principle, the doctrinal basis for Miranda's holding, the policy choices manifested in Miranda's approach to police interrogation, and the effect that Miranda has had on police interrogation and the rate of confessions.
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Public Education Law Seminar (2)
Deals with the basic legal structure of the public education system and explores a range of current legal and educational policy issues confronting the public schools. These include: various aspects of equal educational opportunity such as school finance reform, and racial and socioeconomic diversity; state-local district relations and responsibility for the quality of education provided; student rights; and pupil classification and other means to meet special pupil needs. To a substantial degree, the seminar uses pending cases and legislative developments to illuminate the issues.
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Public Finance and Social Infrastructure Seminar (2)
This
seminar provides an introduction to the role and evolution of public
debt in advancing crucial social infrastructure projects such as
highways, rails, schools, waste treatment facilities and fire houses at
the federal, local, and state level. Review of both academic materials
and specific case studies will provide a practitioner's perspective into
the difference between pay-as-you-go financing and issuance of public
debt, mechanics and constitutionality of public financing, and
challenges and limitations faced by governments in striking the right
balance between necessity versus overreliance on public debt. This
seminar will require a 25-page paper to be submitted by students at the
end of the semester.
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Public Interest Law Seminar (2)
This
seminar will explore a number of areas of public interest law that are
currently being considered by the courts. Topics will be chosen in large
part based upon the students' interests, but are likely to include such
issues as same-sex marriage, creation of DNA databases, government
surveillance in a post - 911 world, and race and gender discrimination. We
will also be hosting moot court arguments of public interest cases
coming before the New Jersey Supreme Court with the attorneys arguing
the actual cases for the public interest side. The judges will be
ex justices of the New Jersey Supreme Court, retired Appellate Division
judges, and various law professors and experts in the respective areas
of law. After the mock arguments, the justices and our class will
analyze the arguments to help the attorneys prepare for their actual
Supreme Court appearances.
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Race, Gender, and Tort Law Seminar (2)
Explores how harms involving race and gender are treated under tort law. Attempts to define the nature of race and gender-based injuries, and evaluate the adequacy of existing tort law to address them. Through an examination of specific topics, such issues as the effect of race and gender on the development of causes of action and standards of conduct, the relationship between tort law and civil rights remedies, and questions involving damages and nondiscrimination in jury selection are considered. Problems of essentialism and the intersection of race and gender will be addressed.
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Race, Law & Politics Seminar (2)
In
this seminar, we will examine the extent to which President Obama's
election satisfies the goals of the Civil Rights Movement and the
aspirations of American civil rights law. As part of our discussion, we
will explore how American law took up the goal of racial integration,
the extent to which its integrative agenda has been achieved, and the
adequacy or inadequacy of American law on such topics as
majority-minority districts, reverse discrimination claims, and
affirmative action. Our discussion of these issues will include analysis
of their relationship to identity politics, and potential directions
forward in light of President Obama's historic election.
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Role of the General Counsel Seminar (2)
This
seminar replicates the general counsel's office of a major corporation
and acquaints students with a large transaction and its attendant legal
and practical problems. It also replicates the day-to-day activities of
such an office. The emphasis is on a transaction and other events which
pose issues of corporate law and governance. Seminar members are
expected to work individually and in teams, to present materials both
orally and in writing, and to play active roles in the issues under
consideration.
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Science and International Law Seminar (2)
This seminar explores international and comparative law aspects of scientific advances, with particular focus on biotechnology. It will consider issues in the areas of international trade, patent law, international public health, and international environmental law. A science background is not required.
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Second Amendment Seminar
This seminar will examine the emerging treatment of the firearms freedom by the judiciary in light of District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago.
Topics will include the text and history of the Second Amendment, and state
constitutional and statutory provisions. The constitutional theories
support the enforcement of the right to bear arms, including the
incorporation doctrine and the privileges and immunities clause, will be
discussed. The seminar will also examine any emerging doctrinal trends
that determine whether future governmental regulation affecting this
nascent individual constitutional right are permissible.
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Special Education Law Seminar (2)
The course will
start with an historical examination of the public education system's
treatment of children with disabilities, and the subsequent federal
legislative response to the inadequate educational opportunities
afforded them (namely the Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act "IDEA" and its predecessor acts, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act "ADA". We then will
cover each step of the special education process, including "child
find," evaluation, eligibility and classification, individualized
educational program ("IEP") development, student discipline, procedural
safeguards, court proceedings, available remedies, and the meaning of
the statutory requirement that schools provide "a free and appropriate
public education in the least restrictive environment." At each stage,
we will examine the applicable statutory law and regulations, the
seminal cases governing the particular area, and the relevant policy
issues. This course is open to all students, whether or not
they are taking the Special Education Clinic. All students who are
taking the Special Education Clinic for the first time must take this
course simultaneously, if they have not taken the class previously.
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State & Local Government (2)
This
seminar provides an introduction to the role of state government in New
Jersey as it pertains to issues including but not limited to taxation,
environment, health care, infrastructure and education. Review of both
academic materials and specific case studies will provide a
practitioner's perspective on the fast-changing public policy and
political paradigm in state government and examine its concomitant
effects. This seminar will require a paper to be submitted by students
at the end of the semester.
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Street Law Seminar (2)
This seminar will
examine the significance of legal education to the community. In
addition, it exposes students to methodologies for communicating legal
concepts to non-lawyers, while also helping students to hone their
knowledge of basic legal principles and learn how they apply in
practical legal settings. The Street Law Program involves going into
schools, juvenile detention centers, group homes, and other programs for
youth and teaching them legal concepts as they impact in practical ways
upon their lives. For a more complete description of the Street Law
Program, please visit http://law.newark.rutgers.edu/public-service/street-law. The
seminar is designed to be taken in conjunction with teaching in the
Street Law Program (though some students may participate in the program
without taking the course). The seminar focuses on teaching students to
communicate legal concepts that engage young people.
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U.S. Legal Thought Seminar (2)
This seminar provides
an introduction to the most important approaches found in 20th century
legal scholarship, including legal realism, legal process, law and economics, law and society, and critical theorists. We will study the 20
classic articles found in The Canon of American Legal Thought
(David Kennedy & William W. Fisher III eds., 2006) (Princeton
University Press), which range from Holmes to John Dewey to Lon Fuller
to Ronald Coase to Duncan Kennedy to Catherine McKinnon. This collection
was first created to help students from abroad to understand the
contemporary United States legal system, and is equally illuminating for
those who know more about our law than about the ideas scholars and
practitioners deploy to analyze and change it. Our goal will be to
understand what these scholars are saying and relate their thought to
broader social concerns and developments.
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Urban Law and Policy Seminar (2)
This seminar will briefly introduce urban theory and different
approaches to urban planning. After this introduction, the class will
explore the history of citites in New Jersey, focusing on Newark's
development from the first New Jersey Constitution to the present. Next,
using Newark as a case study, the class will discuss state and local
efforts to redevelop urban areas, to provide educational opportunities
in urban areas, and to combat urban crime, as well as the effect of New
Jersey's affordable housing law on urban areas. Several guest speakers
are expected to join the class dicussions on these various topics.
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White Collar Crime Seminar (2)
This course considers
the legal, moral, and policy considerations that underlie a number of
key white-collar criminal offenses, including perjury, mail and
securities fraud, false statements, obstruction of justice, bribery,
extortion and blackmail, tax evasion, regulatory offenses, money
laundering, conspiracy, and RICO. Interwoven will be an ongoing
treatment of various issues of corporate and organizational liability,
individual liability in an organizational setting, federal jurisdiction
over crime, the question of overcriminalization, sentencing, and the
role of the white collar prosecutor and defense attorney.
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