Law Class Descriptions for the Non-Law Student: Part 3

They've officially started doing student ratings during class, which supposedly means I've learned enough to reflect and evaluate a class effectively. While I'm not going to post my ratings here, I would like to give a brief overview of what I've been learning about this semester.

I took a full load of 5 classes:

• Political Asylum (for more info on this class, click here) 
• Civil Rights- when I first signed up for this class, I expected it to be more about the civil rights movement. Instead, we've focused on how the Civil Rights Act created governmental accountability in various sectors: prison officials/ police officers, foster parents, school teachers, etc. 

• Employment Law- what are the laws governing job interviews, employment offers and pay, and firing procedures? I've learned a lot about them in this class, and it all boils down to laws on discrimination.

• Criminal Procedure: Adjudication- This class covers the sentencing process once someone has been arrested. For example, what is the role of the prosecutor and defense counsel? When is a judge used instead of a jury? What sentencing guidelines are there to determine the punishment? Should the death penalty remain in place?

• Plenary Power- This is the unwritten but assumed power the federal government has over areas such as immigration, native americans, international war power, and treaty making. This class was one of my favorites, as each week we were able to listen to a scholar present a work in progress in one of the areas of plenary power. 

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

*This is part of a post series. For the last post, click here.