National Security Law
SLN #: 12444Course Prefix: LAW-691
Course Section: 1009
Credit Hours: 2
Instructor(s): Gordon
Course Books: View List of Books
Course Description:
This is a course on national security law. Our current concepts of national security grew out post-World War II concerns about fighting communism and winning the Cold War. However, since the fall of the Soviet Union, 9/11, the uncontrolled expansion and incursion of the internet, the growing threats of White Nationalists and climate disruption, perhaps the time has come to rethink what national security means, what we need to protect and at what cost. and how we protect us and the interests we hold dear. While national security law can cover a wide range of subjects, we will focus on the legal issues that arise in protecting the United States from undue and improper foreign interference. These may range from traditional notions of invasion by foreign countries to disrupting elections to terrorist activities by non-nation states to cyber-attacks from unknown sources.
One of the key distinctions between national security issues and traditional criminal law is that national security is about collecting intelligence and using it to disrupt improper foreign activities before they occur as opposed to apprehending and convicting people after a crime occurs. This raises significant civil rights, due process and privacy issues which we will also explore.
We will also examine the distribution of power between the branches of government regarding national security. What is the President’s proper role and what role should Congress and the Court’s play? We will also look at how protecting our security may impact our relations with other countries and groups. How does immigration policy fit into all of this?
Course Expectations
Your grade in this course will be a function of both class participation and a final paper. There are weekly reading assignments which will be in the syllabus.
There are no quizzes or exams. There is, however, a final paper. I will ask you to both define what you believe to the most critical national security concern facing the Country and what the legal challenges in addressing that concern are. The paper should be fifteen pages long. The paper is due by the last day of exams.
Additional Information:
Credit Hours: 2
Grading Option: Letter Grade Only
Graduation Writing Requirement: No
Flexible/Upper-Level Writing Requirement: Yes
Skills Requirement: No
Simulation Course: No
Experiential Learning: No
Seminar: Yes
Special Withdrawal Course: No
Limited Enrollment Number: 15
Final Exam Given: No
Paper Or In-Class Presentation: Yes, see course description
Attendance Policy: Per Statement Of Student Policies
Teaching Method: In Person
* The law school has a policy that is used to calculate credit hours. Please see the Statement of Student Policies.