Introduction to U.S. Law and Legal Systems

Catalog description

We will explore the U.S. legal system and major types of law in the U.S., including constitutional law, statutory law, administrative law and the common law. Cases examples will be taken from fields of civil rights law, criminal law, immigration and refugee law, environmental law, child and youth law, internet law, and U.S. approaches to international human rights law. This course will combine theory with practice and teach students the real-world analytical skills needed to understand U.S. law and the U.S. legal system. It will also teach students to craft effective legal arguments in a variety of contexts, both orally and in writing. The course is designed to provide students with enough substantive understanding of the fundamentals of the U.S. legal system to have a solid framework for public policy analysis and design, regardless of the substantive topic area.