GVPT 439A
THE FIRST AMENDMENT IN LAW AND POLITICS
Course Requirements    Briefs     Course Schedule
Fall 2004

Course Meets: M-W 2-3:15pm ( 2204 HJ Patterson)

 

Instructor: Wayne V. McIntosh

Office: 3140C Tydings Hall

Phone: 405-4134 E-Mail: wmcintosh@gvpt.umd.edu

Office Hours: MW, 1-2pm  (or by appointment)

 

Graduate Teaching Assistant: Michael Evans

Office: 3114P Tydings, email: mevans@gvpt.umd.edu

Office Hours: M, 3:30-4:30pm and Tu, 2-3pm (or by appointment)
 


This course is designed to familiarize students with free speech issues across the First Amendment landscape, as well as to give you some legal research experience. Toward those ends, we will largely, though not exclusively, rely on the major U.S. Supreme Court cases in the field. Although I do not intend to employ the Socratic method (unless compelled to by class silence), your active participation in this class is both vital and required.  Specific requirements follow:

FIRST REQUIREMENT:

Read the remaining requirements thoroughly
 

REMAINING REQUIREMENTS:
Required Readings

Available at the bookstores:

1) Van Alstyne. First Amendment: Cases & Materials, 3rd Ed. (Foundation Press, 2002).

2) Van Alstyne. First Amendment: 2004 Supplement.

 


Course Requirements                                                                                         Top of Page
 
Attendance: Although attendance is not required in the sense that I'll be taking a formal, daily roll of the class, your regular presence is essential, both in the sense that it will greatly aid your learning and in the "bottom line" sense that class participation counts rather heavily toward your final grade (see below).  If you have a conflict with either of the exam dates because of religious observance, please inform me of this conflict by September 29.  No excuses will be accepted after that date.

Readings: You are responsible for and can expect to be tested on all of the readings, including those in the Van Alstyne case book and Supplement, and our in-class discussions. In order to facilitate discussion and understanding you should plan, obviously, to read assigned materials prior to class. Moreover, with regard to the major assigned cases, you will be expected to submit case briefs on the day the cases are to be discussed (see below). Of course, you are expected to be prepared to discuss all assigned readings and not just the briefed items.

Participation: It is essential that everyone participate in class discussions. If, for some reason, you feel that you will not be able to actively take part in our discussions on a regular basis, please do not take this course. Much of this subject matter is highly controversial stuff, so I'd expect that everybody will want to get her or his two cents worth in. But, as an added incentive, regular, informed, and thoughtful class participation will constitute 15% of your final grade.

I figure that there will be approximately 26 class sessions which will lend themselves to discussion (for these purposes, I have excluded the two exam dates and the first introductory meeting). Daily participation will be evaluated in the following way: students who make a substantial contribution to the day's discussion will receive a ++ for that day. Students who make a minor contribution will receive a + for the day. And students who do not contribute will receive a -. In the end, a strong majority of ++ days will garner the student an A in participation; a strong majority of + will garner a C; a strong majority of - will garner an F. A mixed record will be graded accordingly.

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Briefs: In order to help you prepare for class discussions you will be asked to submit a case brief on at least one of the major assigned cases (all those marked with an *) for each class. Those briefs will be due on the day the cases are to be discussed. The briefs will constitute 25% of your final grade. You should also, however, brief the non-asterisked cases for your own files. I think you will find that the your briefs will be very useful in preparing both for class discussion and exams. We will address how to brief cases during the first couple of class meetings, and instructions can be found elsewhere on the course website (http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/gvpt439a).

Each brief is to be neatly typed, and should be no longer than three pages. During the class in which the briefed cases are discussed, you may feel free to make marginal notes based on our conversation. At the end of each class, briefs will be submitted to me, marginal notes and all. I will return them in about a week. Briefs submitted on the day assigned will be graded on a 10-point scale; late  briefs will lose 1 point per day, counting weekends. (Of course, I reserve the right to assign a Zero to truly sloppy or thoughtless briefs even if submitted on time). Warning: Failure to brief assigned cases will be lethal to your successful completion of this course.

Exams: There will be a mid-term and a final examination. Each will constitute 30% of your final grade. The mid-term is scheduled for Wednesday, October 20, during regular class hours. The final is scheduled for Thursday, December 16th from 1:30pm to 3:30pm. One week before each exam you will be given a sample exam from which to study. These sample exams will include a number of questions, some of which will appear on your actual exam. Makeup or early exams will only be administered for the most extreme emergencies.

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Academic Honesty:  The University expects all students to adhere to the accepted norms of intellectual honesty in their academic work. Any form of cheating, plagiarism, or dishonesty, or collusion in another's dishonesty is a fundamental violation of these norms. It is the student's responsibility to understand and abide by these standards of academic honesty.  Intellectual dishonesty cannot be tolerated in an academic community. Any form of cheating, plagiarism, and collusion will result in failure for the course.

For general University policy statements on academic honesty, and the University honor pledge see: http://www.jpo.umd.edu/aca/honorpledge.html

Extra-Credit: None!
 

Recap: Evaluation:

Daily participation = 15%

Daily briefs = 25%

Mid-term exam = 30%

Final exam = 30%
 

Important Dates:

Sept. 13: Last day to drop/add

Oct. 20: Mid-term

Nov. 25-28: Thanksgiving Recess

Dec. 16: Final Exam (Thursday, 1:30-3:30pm) 

Course Schedule & Weekly Assignments
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PART I: INTRODUCTION

August 30

TOPIC: THE FOUNDERS & THE BILL OF RIGHTS

READINGS: NONE

ASSIGNMENT: NONE
 

September 1, September 6: NO Class Meeting

PART II: DEVELOPMENT OF FIRST AMENDMENT STANDARDS

(Reminder: All briefs marked with an * are to be turned in on the dates they are scheduled for discussion. You should brief all assigned cases for study purposes)

September 8-15

TOPIC: The Founders & the Bill of Rights

Free Speech v. Public Interest

READINGS: Van Alstyne, pp. 1-83, including the cases below.

ASSIGNMENT:  Patterson v. Colorado; *Schenck v. U.S.; Abrams v. U.S.; *Gitlow v. NY; *Whitney v. California; Bridges v. California.
 

September 20-22

TOPIC: Same topic continued

READINGS: Van Alstyne, pp. 84-130, including the cases below.

ASSIGNMENT: *Sheppard v. Maxwell; Wood v. Georgia; Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart; Seattle Times v. Rhinehart; *Dennis v. U.S.; *Brandenburg v. Ohio; *Republican Party v. White (Supplement).
 

PART III: WHERE YOU "SPEAK" MAKES A DIFFERENCE

September 22-October 11

TOPIC: Situating the Right to Free Speech

READINGS: Van Alstyne, pp. 373-509, 528-547, including the cases below. 

ASSIGNMENT:  *Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement; *Thomas v. Chicago Park District (Supplement); *Society for Krishna Consciousness v. Lee; Virginia v. Hicks (Supplement); *South Boston Allied War Veterans' Council v. Irish American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston;  *Red Lion Broadcasting Company v. FCC;  *Turner Broadcasting System v. FCC; Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium v. FCC; *Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins; *Lebron v. National RR Passenger Corp.; Watchtower v. Village of Stratton (Supplement).

 

October 11-13

PART IV: WHO SPEAKS MAY MAKE A DIFFERENCE

TOPIC: Speech & The Government-Related Speaker

READINGS: Van Alstyne, pp. 293-372, including the cases below.

ASSIGNMENT:  Connick v. Myers; *Elrod v. Burns; Rankin v. McPherson.
 

PART V: FREE SPEECH & CAMPAIGN FINANCE

TOPIC: Regulating the Uses of Money & Speech

READINGS: Van Alstyne, pp. 591-632, including the cases below.

ASSIGNMENT:  *Buckley v. Valeo; FEC v. NCPAC;  Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. FEC;  *McConnell v. FEC (Supplement); *McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission.
 
 October 20:  MIDTERM EXAM

PART VI: FIGHTING WORDS & OFFENSIVE SPEECH

October 25-27

TOPIC: From "F--- the Draft" to Burning Crosses: How Far Can You Go?

READINGS: Van Alstyne, pp. 229-246, including the cases below.

ASSIGNMENT:  Hess v. Indiana;*Cohen v. California;  *R.A.V. v. St. Paul; Virginia v. Barry Black (Supplement); *Wisconsin v. Mitchell.
 

PART VII: SYMBOLIC SPEECH

November 1-3

TOPIC: Dissent & the Use of "Sacred" Symbols

READINGS: Van Alstyne pp. 298-303, 326-329, and cases below.

ASSIGNMENT: Tinker v. Des Moines School District; *U.S. v. O'Brien; Clark v. CCNV; Spence v. Washington; *Texas v. Johnson.

 

November 8-10

PART VIII: FREE PRESS, PRIVACY & DEFAMATION

TOPIC: The First Amendment & the Law of Libel

READINGS: Van Alstyne pp. 165-220, and cases below.

ASSIGNMENT: *New York Times v. Sullivan; Time v. Hill; Gertz v. Welch, Inc.; *Hustler Magazine v. Fallwell.
 

November 15-17

PART X: THE LESSER PROTECTION OF NONPOLITICAL SPEECH

TOPIC: Regulating Commercial Speech

READINGS: Van Alstyne pp. 637-725, and cases below.

ASSIGNMENT: Valentine v. Chrestensen; *Bigelow v. Virginia; Posadas v. Tourism Company; City of Cincinnati v. Discovery Network, Inc.; Rubin v. Coors Brewing Company; *44 Liquormart v. Rhode Island; Thompson v. Western States Medical Center (Supplement).

 

November 22-December 8

TOPIC: The Obscenity/Pornography Conundrum:

The First Amendment & Community Morals

READINGS: Van Alstyne pp. 726-821, and cases below.

ASSIGNMENT: *Roth v. U.S.; "Memoirs" v. Massachusetts; *Stanley v. Georgia; *Miller v. California; *Paris Adult Theatre v. Slaton (pay special attention to Brennan's dissent in this one); New York v. Ferber; *Barnes v. Glen Theatre;  Reno v. ACLU; National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley; *Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition (Supplement);  *U.S. v. American Library Association (Supplement).
 

November 25-28

TOPIC: Thanksgiving

READINGS: Anything you want

ASSIGNMENT: Eat till you drop
 

November 29-December 6

TOPIC: See above

READINGS: See above

ASSIGNMENT: See above
 
 

PART XII: CONCLUDING THOUGHTS ON THE FIRST AMENDMENT

December 8

TOPIC: Course conclusion

READINGS: None

ASSIGNMENT: None
 

December 16:  FINAL EXAM, Thursday, 1:30-3:30pm

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