Race and the Law
SLN #: 19317Course Prefix: LAW-691
Course Section: 012
Credit Hours: 2
Instructor(s): Overton
Course Books: View List of Books
Course Description:
This course will examine issues of race within American law through a historical and modern context. We will discuss how race and ethnicity affect legislatures, court rooms and communities. We will also examine the use of the law both to perpetuate and to reduce and eliminate racial injustice in the United States from the formulation of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution, through slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, desegregation, the war and drugs, and up through the present day. We will explore the biases and prejudices shared by judges, juries, parties, clients and lawyers, as well as our own biases and how those shape the way we view the law. The course will include a group presentation, an individual paper and an individual presentation. There is no final exam.
By the end of the course, students will be conversant regarding the role race has played in the founding and development of the United States and its laws and how those laws have defined race. Students will be able to answer questions such as:
• What is the legal and social history of the term "race"?
• How did slavery impact our legal history?
• What are the leading cases and laws that impacted the construction of race in the United States?
• How did these laws impact popular, social and political notions of race?
• What were Jim Crow laws and how did they affect race relations?
• What are the leading cases and laws that impacted Asian Americans, African Americans, Native Americans and Latinos?
• What were the leading cases that dismantled legalized segregation in public schools?
• Why are there still more than 100 school desegregation cases pending today?
• Does race still play a role in legislatures and courtrooms today?
• Does race still play a role in the hiring, retention and promotion of attorneys today?
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: No
Special Withdrawal Course: No
Final Exam Given: No
Paper Or In-Class Presentation: Yes
Participation Points: Yes
Attendance Policy: Per Statement Of Student Policies
Additional Attendance Policy: Yes
* The law school has a policy that is used to calculate credit hours. Please see the Statement of Student Policies.