JUDICIAL PROCESS I
http://www.uni.edu/~petersc/146/
Political Science 942: 146
Spring 2003
Section 01 TH 9:30-10:45
Section 02 TH 2:00-3:15
SAB 27
Scott Peters
SAB 334
319.273.2727
scott.peters@uni.edu
Office Hours: TH 3:30-4:30
This course will acquaint students with the institutions and actors of the U.S. appellate courts,
especially the U.S. Supreme Court. During the first few weeks of the semester we will examine
the nature of the American judicial system by exploring various sources of law and studying the
role of the courts within our constitutional system. We will then investigate judicial decisionmaking, including the process by which appellate courts decide cases, and explore various
theories that seek to explain judicial decisions. The last third of the course will explore the
impact of court decisions, concentrating on the resources available to courts in implementing
their decisions.
Upon successful completion of the class, students shall demonstrate:
1) An understanding of various views of the role of the legal system within the U.S. political
system.
2) Knowledge of the structure of and decision-making procedures of the federal judiciary, the
and the roles played by the major actors in the system.
3) An ability to analyze and evaluate the influence of the legal, political and social factors upon
judicial decisions.
4) An ability to analyze and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of courts in making and
carrying out policy.
TEXTS
There are four required texts for this class. Both may be purchased at the bookstores serving
campus. Occasional other readings will be on reserve in the library.
Canon, Bradley and Charles A. Johnson. 1999. Judicial Policies: Implementation and
Impact. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.
Murphy, Walter F., et al. 2002. Courts, Judges & Politics: An Introduction to the
Judicial Process, 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
O’Brien, David M. 2003. Storm Center: The Supreme Court in American Politics, 6th ed.
New York: W. W. Norton and Co.
Rosenberg, Gerald N. 1991. The Hollow Hope: Can Courts Bring About Social Change?
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
GRADES
Your performance will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
Exam 1
Exam 2
Exam 3
Class participation
25%
25%
35%
15%
Grading criteria
The criteria I use for grading all written assignments (exams and papers) are available at
http://www.uni.edu/~petersc/grading.html.
Grades of “I” will only be assigned when students have fulfilled the bulk of the semester’s
assignments, but are prevented from completing assignments at the end of the semester due to
sudden and/or traumatic events, such as sudden illness, death of loved one, etc. Before
assigning a grade of “I,” the professor will require the student to commit to finishing the work by
an agreed-upon time.
The scale from which I will assign final grades is below:
93100
90-92
87-89
83-86
80-82
77-79
A
73-76
C
AB+
B
BC+
70-72
67-69
63-66
60-62
0-59
CD+
D
DF
Exams
There will be three substantial, take-home essay exams in this class. At least one question on
the final exam may have a cumulative element to it. Each exam will be composed of 1-3
questions, and the total length of each exam will be expected to be 6-8 pages total. Students will
be advised of the exact nature of the exam at least one week in advance. Students’ work on takehome exams must be entirely their own. Late take-home exams will NOT be accepted
unless students can provide documentation for an illness, accident, or other unforeseeable,
sudden incident that prevented them from completing the exam on time. The professor should
be notified about such an incident before the due date of the exam, or as soon as possible
afterward (generally, within 24 hours).
Participation
Most learning will take place through class discussion. I expect all students to be prepared to
discuss the reading materials on the day listed in the class schedule. The class participation
grade is based upon attendance and the quality and quantity of contributions to discussions.
Students who miss more than 2-3 classes throughout the semester and who merely sit like
bumps can expect, at best, a “C” for class participation. Students who don’t miss can count on
something between a “B-“ and an “A,” depending upon the frequency and quality of
contributions. If I find that participation is lackluster, I will use pop quizzes to help me assess
student preparation. These quiz grades will be factored into the participation grade.
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Students should be prepared to discuss current events in class. Accordingly, following the news
is a requirement of the class. Students can find many online resources at
http://www.uni.edu/~petersc/links.html.
GUIDELINES FOR WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS
All papers and take-home exams shall be typed in the following format: double spaced with 1
inch margins all around, and a 10 or 12 point font, stapled once in the top left hand corner (no
binders, folders, etc.). Papers should be printed in a standard font (Arial, Courier, Times,
Bookman, etc.) and NOT in any particularly creative fonts (e.g., Comic Sans MS).
All assignments completed outside of class must be carefully edited for spelling and grammar.
Students will get ten “free” errors on the assignments for this class. After that, each grammatical
or spelling error will result in a 1/3 point deduction from the overall grade. This is a
steep price to pay for sloppiness! Edit your work carefully, and you’ll avoid the problem. There
is no reason for spelling errors in this era of spell checkers. I have summarized several of the
most common grammatical errors to avoid (as well as how to avoid them) at:
http://www.uni.edu/~petersc/grammar.html. I recommend that you look at this page and
consider it a how-to guide in “How Not to Annoy Professor Peters.” UNI maintains a helpful site
for grammar questions called Dr. Grammar: http://www.uni.edu/drgrammar/.
IMPORTANT REGISTRATION DATES
9/11 Last Day to Drop without a “W”
10/30 Last Day to secure professor’s signature to drop without an “F”
10/31 Last Day to Drop without an “F”
POLICIES & LOGISTICS
 Students must not be late to class, and should not leave early. Students who must leave early
for any reason should have the courtesy to inform the professor before class begins and to
pick a seat that makes their exit as unobtrusive as possible.
 All cell phones and pagers must be turned off and put away before class begins.
 I will strive to return all written work no later than one week after the due date, but there is
little likelihood that I will get work back earlier.
 Students may talk to the professor at any time about assignments, including to ask for
clarification of grades or to make corrections to wrongly-graded work. In questioning
written work, students should wait at least one day after receiving comments before meeting
with me. During that time, students should take the assignment home, re-read their work
and carefully read and contemplate all comments.
 Students are responsible for keeping on top of the syllabus and balancing the obligations of
this class with the other obligations in their lives. This includes turning in assignments on
time and attending class faithfully. It also includes notifying the professor when illness,
family obligations or other events interfere with the requirements of the class. When
notified in advance or shortly after such an event, I can be very accommodating; when
notified days or weeks after, I will be unlikely to cut students any slack.
STUDENT MISCONDUCT
Learning within an academic community is based upon an assumption of honesty and integrity
Plagiarism and cheating, therefore, undermine the central function of the university. Neither
the University nor I have any tolerance for academic dishonesty, nor should students tolerate it.
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The University’s definitions of cheating and plagiarism, which will govern this class, are located
in the Section 3.01 of UNI’s Policies and Procedures
(http://www.uni.edu/pres/policies/301.html). The definitions include, but are not limited to:
copying another student's work, copying materials from printed sources without proper citation,
paraphrasing printed materials without proper citation and failing to cite all sources
used/consulted. If I find any evidence of such dishonesty, I will vigorously pursue appropriate
punishments, including failure in the course and suspension or dismissal from the University.
For further information on definitions of plagiarism and how to avoid it, see
http://www.uni.edu/drgrammar/plagiarism.shtml. Brief instructions for citation are found at
http://www.uni.edu/~petersc/cite.html; consult a style manual for more details.
TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE
Listed below is a tentative schedule for the topics we will cover; I will periodically announce changes to
this schedule in class, usually at least a week in advance. Students are responsible for all assignments,
including those announced in class. Please prepare the daily reading assignments before coming to class.
Also please note exam dates and due dates for papers.
8/26
Introduction
LAW, POLITICS, AND JUDGING
8/28 Theories of jurisprudence / approaches to the law
Murphy et al pp. 1-36
9/2
The role of courts in a republic
Murphy et al., pp. 36-79
9/4
Debates over the role of the U.S. Supreme court
O’Brien, Ch. 1
9/9
The American Legal System
Murphy et al., pp. 79-92, 103-108, 114-117
9/11
Limitations on judicial power
Murphy et al., pp. 310-326, 338-351
9/16
Selection of Supreme Court judges
Murphy et al., pp. 138-148
O’Brien Ch. 2, pp. 32-84 xxx
9/18
Current controversies over judicial nominations
Murphy et al., pp. 157-175
O’Brien, Ch. 2, pp. 84-104
*** 9/23 Exam 1 Due ***
The PROCESS OF JUDICIAL DECISION-MAKING
Agenda setting
9/23 Access to justice
Murphy et al, pp. 239-252, 260-269
O’Brien, Ch. 4, pp. 164-190
9/25 Deciding to decide
Murphy et al, pp. 603-615
O’Brien, Ch. 4, pp., 190-221
9/30 Access & interests: who wins and who loses?
Murphy et al., pp. 252-258, 269-280
O’Brien, Ch. 4, pp. 221-233
10/2
Explaining cert. decisions????
Murphy et al., pp. 652-678
Decisions on the merits
10/7
Oral arguments
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10/9
10/14
Murphy et al., pp., 615-628
O’Brien Ch. 5, pp. 234-257
Conference and drafting opinions
Murphy et al., pp. 662-678
O’Brien Ch. 5, pp. 257-288
Judicial opinions
O’Brien Ch. 5, pp. 288-312
EXPLAINING JUDICIAL BEHAVIOR
10/16
10/21
Legal explanations: Precedent and legal reasoning
Murphy et al., pp. 419-448
Legal explanations: Constitutional interpretation
Murphy et al., pp.526-569
10/23 Attitudinal and Strategic explanations
Murphy et al., pp. 330-338, 462-470, 473-477, 642-647
10/28 Exam 2 Due
IMPACT AND IMPLEMENTATION
10/30 Models of judicial implementation
C&J Ch. 1
Rosenberg Ch. 1
11/4
Civil rights and the courts
Rosenberg Ch. 2
11/6
The Interpreting Population
C&J Ch. 2
Rosenberg Ch. 3, pp. 72-93
11/11 The Implementing Population
C&J Ch.3
Rosenberg Ch. 3, pp. 93-106
11/13 The Consumer Population
C&J Ch. 4
Rosenberg Ch. 4, pp. 107-131
11/18 The Secondary population
C&J Ch. 5
Rosenberg Ch. 4 & 5, pp. 131-169
11/20 Theories of Judicial Impact
C&J Ch. 6
11/25 The impact of Roe v. Wade & other women’s rights decisions, part I
Rosenberg Ch. 6 & 7
12/2
The impact of Roe v. Wade & other women’s rights decisions, part II
Rosenberg Ch. 7 &8
12/4
The impact of the courts on state reapportionment and environmental policy
Rosenberg Ch. 9
12/9
The impact of the courts on criminal procedure
Rosenberg Ch. 10
12/11 Evaluation of impact & implementation theories
C&J Ch. 7
Rosenberg Ch. 11
12/17 Final exam due
Sec. 001: 9:50 am
Sec. 002: 2:50 pm
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