American Legal System

Review Letter

By now you should have read the following important theoretical readings for the course:

Clash of the Civilizations.
Quest for Legal Sovereignty.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail.
Politics of Land Reform.

These four readings provide a foundation for you to understand why conflict occurs, how the state is formed to manage this conflict, what happens when some are excluded, and how inequality leads to government decline and eventual collapse or violent revolution.

The supplemental readings and responses were designed to have your reflect on these readings and how they apply to your civic identity. By now you should know how you feel about important legal issues and how others might have different ideas than you.

Following spring break we will think about how Asmaa (see reader for youtube link) sparked a revolution in Egypt and we wonder what you might think about civic change. As we go through the readings which will show us how the legal system makes important decisions we want to think about whether this is the best system of everyone or just some of us. In the final weeks we will read Going South and discuss what motivates people to enact legal change through civic agency for their own rights and sometimes as an advocate for others. Please feel free to start this early on your own and take notes to keep your ideas fresh for the discussion board.

If you have any questions feel free to email me at jasonmleggettkbcc@gmail.com

Otherwise, we will pick up again April 18th with Marbury v. Madison and Behavioral Theory of Organizations, pages 67-70 and 70-80.