The Federalist Papers are both an indispensable guide to understanding the Constitution and a classic work of political science. This course has a simple objective: to read The Federalist Papers in their entirety, and in the process to learn about the key principles underlying the Constitution. We will occasionally read anti-Federalist writings and other sources for context, but our principal focus will be The Federalist Papers themselves.

The course will evaluate the intersection of the criminal law, civil law and social justice advocacy through the lens of the extrajudicial police killing of George Floyd.

Prerequisites: Florida Legislative Practice

This course provides an overview of civil rights law through the historical lens of the Modern Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968), as well as examination of contemporary movements for social change. The course will examine influence of direct-action campaigns on the federal judicial system.

While the United States continues to house more prisoners per capita than any country in the world, there is also growing momentum around criminal justice reform. This course will highlight the roles and interests of key stakeholders in the criminal justice system—including prosecutors, police, sheriffs, correctional officers, and private prison executives—to assess prospects for and resistance to reform. We will also consider a broader, comparative frame, situating the U.S. criminal justice system in a global context.

This course develops pretrial skills associated with the discovery phase of litigation. Topics include litigation holds, initial disclosures, depositions, interrogatories, requests for production or inspection of documents, production and collection of ESI, subpoenas, requests for admission, and expert testimony.
 

There are a number of issues that arise in the course of our lives each day that are philosophically perplexing and interesting. This course is devoted to discussing several of these and to exploring the various ways in which law and morality have responded to them.

This course will provide an overview of environmental regulatory programs in Florida. While the course will broadly cover environmental permitting across a variety of media, we will focus our attention on a case study: the permitting requirements that would typically be associated with greenfield construction.  We will examine the substantive permitting requirements, explore the types of issues that might complicate the process, and discuss how public involvement can shape the outcome.

This course provides an introduction to International Criminal Law (“ICL”). Essential topics include the nature, scope, and purpose of ICL, and the broader goal of ending impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. Students will learn how the definition of each crime came about and has evolved to facilitate investigation and prosecution in times of crisis and conflict.

In Tax Workshop, six or seven law professors from outside Florida State will present drafts of their work in progress. Students will be expected to read each article and engage in the presentation by the professor. Students will also be assigned to work on their own tax policy paper which they will present to the class at the end of the semester.