Welcome to Civil Rights

Welcome to Civil Rights and the FIU Civil Rights Blog. Below are several posts you must read and follow prior to our first class meeting on Monday, January 5.

All classes will be recorded and posted to the Civil Rights Blog. 

To read the blog, go to http://fiucivilrights.blogspot.com; posts can be read going down from most recent to least recent. For complete information on the purposes and uses of the blog, see Syllabus and Assessments.

 

Panels will be assigned and posted the week prior to class, once I know the final enrollment.

 

And, to put you in the mood for the course:

Good Writing and Talking Procedure

You will write three 1000-word essays. And you will talk about the law throughout the semester, in class and during arguments. Although I do not care about formal bluebooking in writing, I care about your writing and analysis. And I care about how you talk and write about courts and procedure, that you do so properly and not with the (inaccurate) informality you often see.

After the jump are tips on both. I expect you to  these (it will improve your papers), especially as to how you cite rules and statutes and how you talk about courts.

Those who have taken a class with me will be familiar with all of this.

Supplemental Materials

After the jump, some additional materials; they are indicated as (Blog) on the Syllabus. When assigned, please print and have them with you in class, especially statutory provisions.

Course Materials and Week One Assignments

Review Syllabus and Assessments; these contain complete details about the course, assignments, pedagogical approach, course rules, and grading methods. You should bring the Syllabus with you to every class

Class Meetings 

• No class on Tuesday, January 6. Will be made up.

• No class on Monday, January 19 for MLK Day.

• No class on Monday, March 23. Will be made up. 

Technology and Class Conduct: 

Use of laptops, tablets, book readers, smart phones, and similar devices during class is absolutely prohibited, unless you have received permission or accommodation in advance.

The use of ChatGPT and other generative AI, LLM, or similar programs for written assignments is prohibited and will be deemed a violation of FIU and College of Law academic policies. 

Plagiarism Policy

Just don't.  

Required Course Materials: 

Howard M. Wasserman, Understanding Civil Rights Litigation (3d ed. Carolina Academic Press 2023)

     Appendix A: Constitution of the United States
     Appendix B: Emancipation Proclamation

     Appendix C: United States Code and Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (selected provisions) 

Civil Rights Blog (Supplemental Materials) (additional puzzles, cases, stories, and information may be posted as the semester goes along). 

 

Note on Reading and Class Discussions

All reading will be in Understanding Civil Rights Litigation, supplemented by a handful of cases an additional materials. We will spend most class time on the Puzzles from each chapter and  less time working through the doctrine, especially on the problem-intensive sections. This is the trade-off: There is less reading in this class and the reading is more straightforward than parsing cases yourself. But you must learn the doctrinal and theoretical basics (including the facts and details of key cases listed on the syllabus) through the short and straight-forward reading in preparing for class; you must understand the basic rules, standards, and ideas on a broad level, then apply that to our discussion of the Puzzles and problems. 

First Day Assignments

After the jump.