Civil Rights Law

Catalog description

Through lectures, case law, and drafting exercises, students will evaluate the historical development of race as an issue in the context of the American legal system; analyze the constitutional and statutory issues resulting from state and/or private interference with the rights of persons; compare the civil rights statutes that allow citizens to sue for violations of civil rights; Identify the competing visions of racial equality reflected in civil rights legislation, case law, and the concept of discrimination; evaluate the laws forbidding discrimination in education, voting, employment, and housing; investigate methods by which power and social reform may be exercised through the law; and evaluate the conflicts between the protections afforded to citizens and the doctrines protecting police officers in performance of their official functions. Notes: Satisfies one Race and Inclusion course requirement for School of Professional Advancement majors.