University of Massachusetts/Amherst
Department of Legal Studies
Fall 2006
LEGAL STUDIES 450
LEGAL RESEARCH AND WRITING
www.courses.umass.edu/leg450
Instructors:
Office location:
Office hours:
Telephone:
Email:
Judith Holmes
Gordon Hall 108
Wed. 1:00 - 4:00
(413) 545-2305
jholmes@legal.umass.edu
Angela Labrador
Gordon Hall 114
By appointment
alabra@anthro.umass.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to help students improve their ability to analyze and write about
complicated legal issues. You should expect to do a lot of writing this semester. Our topics
include three current controversial legal issues: roadside field sobriety tests and searches, the
constitutionality of gay marriage, and indeterminate detention of enemy combatants at
Guantanamo Bay. You will learn how to read and understand court cases and how to find your
way around a law library. Writing assignments include your own resume, a job application letter,
case briefs, memorandum, opinion-editorial articles, and a short research paper. Assignments are
written from the perspective of a lay person writing to another lay person. Satisfactory
completion of this course fulfills your junior year writing requirement for the Department of
Legal Studies.
COURSE GOALS
1. work through any anxiety about writing
2. learn how to think critically about legal issues
3. learn how to write critically about legal issues
4. learn how to find legal materials in the library or on-line
5. review basic rules of grammar
6. learn how to format documents including a formal research paper
TEXTS
Required: Course Packet, Collective Copies, 71 S. Pleasant Street
Recommended: Hacker, Diane. A Writer’s Reference, Boston: St. Martin’s Press (or any other
writer’s reference) and Merriam Webster Dictionary (or any other dictionary)
1
PLAGIARISM
You are expected to abide by the University’s regulations on plagiarism. Any work that is
plagiarized will not be accepted and, if intentional, will result in disciplinary action. If you have
any questions at all about what acts constitute plagiarism, talk to your instructor.
MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL WRITTEN WORK
1.
Type all assignments, double spaced, with one inch margins all around.
2.
Number all pages; put your name only in the upper right corner of the first page.
3.
Use 11 or 12 point type.
4.
Do not include title pages or covers.
5.
Hand in all written assignments at the beginning of class.
6.
Make every effort to hand in all assignments on time. If you have a legitimate excuse, you
may have an extension, but you must get approval before the assignment is due.
EVALUATION. Course grades will be determined as follows:
10%
Completion of rough drafts and outlines
82%
Average of all writing assignments
08%
Three library assignments
Cases. You will be reading and briefing cases from the United States Supreme Court, the
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the Hawaii Supreme Court and the Vermont Supreme
Court. For the first two cases we read, you will prepare a draft and a final copy of a brief. It
should be 2-3 pages long and follow the prescribed format described in the case brief assignment
in your course packet. All cases you need to read have been edited and are in the course packet
and on the website. It is not recommended that you read the unedited cases using Lexis-Nexis.
Writing Assignments. The other writing assignments ask you either to explain a legal
issue to a lay person or to take a reasoned position on a controversial subject. These assignments
are included in the course packet and on the website. The writing assignments vary in length
from 2 to 6 pages. The second memorandum and the research paper should be 5-6 pages long and
will count double for grading purposes.
Revisions. You will have the opportunity to revise all writing assignment. Revisions are
due no later than the third class following the class when the original writing assignment is
returned. If you do a revision, your grade will be weighted 40% for the first version and 60% for
the revision.
Legal research assignments. You will have three assignments to complete in the law
library on the 5th floor of the DuBois Library or using LEXIS-NEXIS.
2
Class participation and grades. Because our class depends on the informed participation
of everyone, attendance at all classes is required. We will keep track of your attendance and your
level of class participation, and we will take this into consideration in determining your final
grade.
WEBSITES
Course website:
Lexis-Nexis:
Legal dictionary:
Library Research Guide:
http://www.courses.umass.edu/leg450
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/form/academic/s_guidednews.html
http://dictionary.lp.findlaw.com/
http://www.library.umass.edu/subject/legalstudies/
ASSIGNMENTS
The text of all cases and explanations of assignments are in the course packet and on the
course website.
Thurs, 9/7
Introduction to course
Tues, 9/12
First draft of resume and job application letter due
Thurs, 9/14
Final draft of resume and job application letter due
Tues, 9/19
Read Van Houton case in course packet or on website
Rough draft of Van Houton case brief due
Thurs, 9/21
Final draft of Van Houton case brief due
Tues, 9/26
Read Torres case in course packet or on website
Rough draft of Torres case brief due
Thurs, 9/28
Final draft of Torres case brief due
Tues, 10/3
Rough draft of memo on roadside stops due
Thurs, 10/5
Final draft of memo on roadside stops due
Tues, 10/10
Rough draft of OP ED on roadside stops due
Thurs, 10/12 Final draft of OP ED on roadside stops due
First library assignment due
3
Tues, 10/17
Read Baehr v. Lewin (reading questions on website)
Thurs, 10/19 Read Baker v. Vermont (reading questions on website)
Tues, 10/24
Read Goodridge v. Department of Health (reading questions on website)
Thurs, 10/26 Outline, thesis, and research (2nd library assignment) due
Notes on reading questions due
Tues, 10/31
Rough draft due, Memo to state legislator on same-sex marriage
Thurs, 11/1
Final draft due, Memo to state legislator on same-sex marriage
Tues, 11/7
Read Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, majority opinion, sections I-V (reading questions on
website)
Thurs, 11/9
Read Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, majority opinion, sections VI-end, and concurring
opinions (reading questions on website)
Tues, 11/14
Read Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, dissenting opinions (reading questions on website)
Thurs, 11/16 Thesis and outline of research paper due
Notes on reading questions due
Tues, 11/21
Research due (3rd library assignment)
Tues, 11/28
Rough draft of research paper due
Thurs, 11/30 Final draft of research paper due
Tues, 12/5
Rough draft of OP ED due
Thurs, 12/7
Final draft of OP Ed due
Tues, 12/12
Revisions
4