Sections offered SPRING 2023:
#6882 |
JOSEPH TOMAIN |
TuTh 3:00 PM–4:15 PM |
LW 123 |
CLASS NOTES: IUB GenEd S&H credit; COLL (CASE) S&H Breadth of Inquiry credit
Class meets In Person. For more information visit https://covid.iu.edu/learning-modes/index.html
Free speech and privacy are two areas of law that have been in the news and in the courts lately. Legal controversies involving free speech or privacy (or both) are not going away any time soon. They also involve principles and policies that provide common ground because freedom of expression and privacy protections are valuable to everyone, regardless of different views on other issues.
The majority of this course provides an introduction to free speech and privacy law in the United States. The main reading assignments are key First Amendment cases decided by the United States Supreme Court. These cases are supplemented with other materials, including recent lower court cases, news articles on current events, and law review articles.
Before diving into the free speech and privacy materials, the course begins with addressing what it means to “think like a lawyer.” In other words, the course begins by introducing legal reasoning, a skill that applies to the following free speech and privacy materials and far beyond.
The course grade will be predominantly based on a midterm exam and final exam. There will be a few in-semester assignments as well.
Please note: By its very nature, this course involves controversial and sensitive subject matter, such as race, sexual orientation, profanity, and more. Students are not expected to agree with the outcome of every (or any) case. But students are expected to be able to discuss these kinds of materials in a professional and educational manner. Separating one’s personal beliefs from disciplined study of free speech law and policy is a necessary skill and mindset for approaching this course (and rigorous critical thinking generally).