Courses
POSC-106 Mock Trial (1)
A simulated civil or criminal trial procedure in which students play the roles of prosecuting attorneys, defense attorneys, or witnesses. Participation requires preparation of case materials and practice trial runs. The Fisher team competes against teams from other area colleges. May be repeated for a maximum of six credits. Graded S/U.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB ZEXL
Fall & SpringPOSC-217 The American Jury (3)
This course examines the role and function of the American jury. Issues presented include strategies in jury selection, jury representativeness, jury impartiality, jury fact finding, and jury decision making.
Formerly titled: Judges, Juries, & Trials.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
SpringPOSC-252 Theories of Law (3)
What law is and what is expected from it is in part a function of how law is defined and studied. This course explores the meaning and expectation of law as interpreted by major schools of jurisprudence including natural law, positivism, sociological jurisprudence, legal realism, critical legal studies, feminist legal theory, and critical race theory.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
Fall
Restrictions: Excluding: -Class: FreshmanPOSC-254 Criminal Courts & Trials (3)
This course explores the function and operation of criminal courts and trials in the American Legal System. Among the topics considered for examination are the roles of the defense attorney, prosecutor, and judge; the rights of the accused; wrongful convictions; and the legal inequalities present in criminal courts and trials.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
FallPOSC-267 P3 Foundations of US Law (3)
This course examines the evolution of the Anglo-American system of common law on which the foundation of the American legal system is built. Among the topics examined are the “language” of common law and the principles of common-law decision-making. The distinction between the common and civil legal systems is emphasized as they relate to differences in the structure and function of the court systems. Also considered is how common law has shaped areas of law such as contracts, torts, constitutional law, civil procedure, and conflicts of law.
Typically offered:
Attributes: AMSS P3 YLIB
SpringPOSC-326 Judicial Behavior (3)
This course concentrates on the judicial behavior of trial court & appellate court judges with special emphasis on topics such as judicial decision-making, judicial roles, and the differences between trial and appellate judges.
Formerly titled Judicial Process.
Attributes: YLIB ZEXL ZRES
Pre-requisites: POSC-111C D- OR POSC-210 D-
Restrictions: Including: -Class: Junior, SeniorPOSC-348 Environmental Law (3)
This course delves into the complex and dynamic field of environmental law, focusing on the role it plays in shaping public policy and influencing corporate behavior. Students will explore the foundational principles of environmental law and the mechanisms used to enforce them, including statutes, regulations, and case law at both the national and international levels. Topics to be discussed include the historical development of environmental law, major environmental statutes like the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, legal responses to climate change, the impact of law on natural resource management, and the intersection of environmental law with human rights and social justice. The course will also cover ethical considerations and challenges faced by environmental lawyers and the broader implications of environmental legal practice on sustainable development and global ecological integrity.
Attributes: YLIB
Restrictions: Excluding: -Class: Freshman, Sophomore
ECON-221 SQ Statistics I (3)
This course provides an introduction to descriptive and inferential
statistics. Primary descriptive topics include the treatment of frequency distributions, measures of central tendency, and the measures of variability. Inferential topics such as probability theory, the binomial distribution, the normal distribution, the t-distribution, sampling distributions, estimation, and hypothesis testing are also investigated in the context of real-world applications.Typically offered:
Attributes: HHSM SQ YLIB
Fall, Spring & SummerECON-250 Law & Economics (3)
This course is an introduction to the economic analysis of law. The course studies the ways in which economics has had or could have an influence on the development of law. Through discussion, the course explores the impact of economics on legal concepts and how economics can be further used as an aid to resolving legal issues. Four substantive areas of common law, namely property, contracts, torts, and criminal law, are analyzed using tools learned in microeconomic theory.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
Spring
Pre-requisites: -
Restrictions: Excluding: -Class: Freshman
POSC-210 P3 Law, Politics & Society (3)
This course provides an introduction to the various issues, actors, institutions, and processes that make up the American legal system. Topics include the roles and functions of legal systems, law school and the legal profession, and the structure and operation of court systems.
Typically offered:
Attributes: P3 YLIB
FallPOSC-212 Legal Research & Analysis (3)
This course offers step-by-step instruction in the basic manual methods of legal research. Exercises in the use of the West Key Number System, KeyCite, Westlaw, the Index to Legal Periodicals, and other sources are included. Emphasis is on the practical use and retrieval of legal materials for law-related research. Students are required to use these skills and techniques to complete a practical legal research assignment.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
Fall
Restrictions: Excluding: -Class: FreshmanPOSC-252 Theories of Law (3)
What law is and what is expected from it is in part a function of how law is defined and studied. This course explores the meaning and expectation of law as interpreted by major schools of jurisprudence including natural law, positivism, sociological jurisprudence, legal realism, critical legal studies, feminist legal theory, and critical race theory.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
Fall
Restrictions: Excluding: -Class: FreshmanPOSC-325 Constitutional Law (3)
An examination of the case law and meaning the U.S. Supreme Court has provided for the Constitution in such areas as civil liberties, civil rights, First Amendment liberties, property rights, rights of the accused, and government powers.
Typically offered:
Attributes: LEST PLAW YLIB
Spring
Pre-requisites: -
Restrictions: Excluding: -Class: Freshman, SophomorePOSC-355 Issues in Lawyering (3)
This course explores “art” of lawyering by providing a close up examination of the “profession in which attorneys find themselves. Among the topics reviewed are the role of attorneys in the American Legal System; law school and its impact on law school students; the experience and socialization of young attorneys; the attitudes of lawyers toward their work and profession; ethical issues confronted by attorneys; and various content areas in law such as corporate, criminal, personal injury, and intellectual property in which attorneys specialize.
Formerly offered as POSC 255. This cannot be repeated for additional credit by students who have credit for POSC 255.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
Fall
Restrictions: Including: -Class: Junior, SeniorPOSC-398 Special Tpc Legal Studies (3)
This course provides for special topics seminars in Legal Studies. Topics vary by semester and include such diverse themes as Pornography & Law; The Constitutional & Correct Meaning; Rights Retained, Rights, Rights Forgotten; and Feminist Legal Theory. This course may be repeated for credit as the topics change.
Fall 202609 Section 01 Topic: Criminal Law
This course examines the foundational principles of substantive criminal law in the United States. Students will explore the elements of criminal liability, including actus reus, mens rea, causation, and concurrence, as well as the structure and interpretation of criminal statutes. The course surveys major categories of offenses such as homicide, assault, sexual offenses, theft, and property crimes, along with inchoate crimes and accomplice liability. Students will also analyze affirmative defenses including self-defense, necessity, duress, insanity, and mistake. The course will further examine the theoretical justifications for punishment and consider contemporary debates regarding prosecutorial discretion, sentencing policy, and the scope of criminalization.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
Fall
Restrictions: Including: -Major: Legal Studies -Class: Junior, Senior; Excluding: -Major: Legal StudiesPOSC-495 Internship (3 TO 9)
Local Experiential Learning Opportunities for POSC & LEST majors who have demonstrated appropriate levels of academic ability, professional development, and personal responsibility & maturity and who want to gain applied knowledge & workplace experience in areas of their academic & career interests. Permission of the Department Chair or Legal Studies Internship Coordinator is required to register.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
Fall, Spring & Summer
Restrictions: Including: -Major: Legal Studies, Political Science; Excluding: -Class: Freshman, Sophomore
PHIL-260C P3 Philosophy of Law (3)
An examination of the fundamental principles and approaches to American law and legal practice. Topics usually include critical analysis of the legislative and judicial power of government, natural law, legal positivism, disobedience and punishment, criminal and civil procedures, and justice.
Attributes: P3 YLIBPHIL-340 Phil and Jurisprudence (3)
This seminar will explore key contemporary issues and texts in jurisprudence in a rigorous and critical manner. Topics covered will include the meaning of legal justice, the interpretation of legal texts, the relation of judicial decisions to legislative practices and others.
Attributes: LEST YLIB
COMM-346 Media Law & Ethics (3)
Provides students with an overview of the law as it applies to mass media and with related ethical issues that face professional communicators, with emphasis on the First Amendment, libel and privacy, newsgathering, copyright, commercial speech doctrine, and broadcast and new-media regulation. Lecture and discussion highlight application of the law and ethical principles from a practitioner’s viewpoint. Case studies focus on media professionals facing legal and/or ethical decisions in ways that take into account all stakeholders’ concerns, with a special emphasis on cases from print and broadcast journalism, public relations, and advertising.
Formerly titled: Media LawTypically offered:
Attributes: CJMP YLIB
Spring
Restrictions: Excluding: -Class: Freshman
SPST-240 Sport Law (3)
This course will introduce the student to the U.S. legal system and focus on the areas of tort, contract, agency, professional sport law issues and constitutional law as they apply to sport. An emphasis is placed on helping students identify legal issues, understand legal principles and apply those principles to legal problems. Additionally, the course is designed to help students think critically and frame persuasive written and verbal arguments by applying case law to factual settings.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
Fall & Spring
Pre-requisites: SPST-100 D-
ENGL-271 Legal Writing (3)
This course is intended to be an introduction to reading and writing legal documents. Students in this course will learn the different kinds of legal documents lawyers rely on and create but will also learn methods of reading and analyzing that are crucial to work in the law. Individually and as groups, students will research, read, and analyze cases and write up their findings in the proper formats, primarily the legal memorandum and the legal brief. At the end of the semester, students will have an opportunity to present their findings as if they were arguing before a trial judge.
Students must have successfully completed a 1299C course to register.
Typically offered: Spring
Attributes: ENWR PCRW YLIB ZEXL
Restrictions: Excluding: -Class: Freshman