R1B.001: Topic TBD, Instructor TBD, 4 units, Area N/A
In this seminar we will develop the necessary skills for critical thinking, reading and writing by reading an array of interdisciplinary research in the sociology of law, constitutional law, religious studies and the history of race and religion in the United States. The main readings will include selections from seminal books on law, religion and race. We will also read a variety of articles published in these areas by various authors in the field, and discuss the differences in approaches and methodologies among them. To provide the time needed to deeply engage with dense theoretical materials, this course will favor quality over quantity to allow students the time to digest and unpack the readings and reflect on their writing process.
NOTE: R1B courses must be taken for a letter grade.
**This course is lower division and will not count towards the major.**
39D: Current Political & Moral Conflicts & the Constitution Frosh/Soph Seminar, Pomerantz, 2 units, Area N/A
**This course is lower division and will not count towards the major.**
Recent Supreme Court decisions have addressed and modified numerous rights and liberties once thought to be protected by the Constitution. People
differ on the effect of these decisions, which is fundamentally a debate regarding the basis for the Court to entertain and decide them, and what should be the role of the Court. Some have argued that the Court’s role includes finding and protecting fundamental, constitutional rights based on an evolving understanding of the meaning of individual freedom, liberty and equality. Others argue that the role of the Court is to apply the Constitution as written, and where the Constitution is silent, or "neutral," the resolution of any dispute or the extent of protection from governmental abridgment should be left
to the people and their democratically elected representatives. This seminar will examine the role of the Supreme Court and the conflict between
fundamental, individual, constitutional rights that should be immune from governmental interference, and the power of the people--the majority--to limit, modify and (perhaps) extinguish them. Topics we will address include individual sovereignty including reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights (including marriage equality and gender identity), privacy and morality; the elevation of the First Amendment protection of religion and speech allowing “opt-outs” from
compliance with government mandates; limitations on expressions and opinions including "hate” speech and college speech codes; and the conflict
between the Constitution and the government’s efforts to regulate “speech” on the internet, including AI, virtual speech, “deepfakes” and cyber-attacks. The
class will be conducted primarily using the Socratic method. We will read important historical and current Supreme Court cases, as well as political and
legal commentary from across the political spectrum. The prime focus of the seminar is to encourage students to develop and defend their own views and
opinions regarding the relevant topics and to enhance their critical thinking skills.
***CANCELED*** 39D: Equality, Democracy, Legitimacy, Frosh/Soph Seminar, Kutz, 2 units, Area N/A ***CANCELED***
**This course is lower division and will not count towards the major.** ***CANCELED***
100: Foundations of Legal Studies, Simon, 4 units, Core (H, SS)
This is a liberal arts course designed to introduce students to the foundational frameworks and cross-disciplinary perspectives from humanities and social sciences that distinguish legal studies as a scholarly field. It provides a comparative and historical intro to forms, ideas, institutions, and systems of law and sociological ordering. It highlights basic theoretical problems and scholarly methods for understanding questions of law and justice.
102: Policing and Society, Perry, 4 units, Area I
This course examines the American social institution of policing with particular emphasis on urban law enforcement. It explores the social, economic and cultural forces that pull policing in the direction of state legal authority and power as well as those that are a counter-weight to the concentration of policing powers in the state. Special attention is given to how policing shapes and is shaped by the urban landscape, legal to cultural.
103: Theories of Law & Society, Yoav Mehozay, 4 units, Core (H, SS) or Area II
Surveys leading attempts to construct social theories of law and to use legal materials for systematic social theorizing, during the period from the mid-eighteenth century to the early twentieth century. The course considers major discussions of such themes as the relationships between law, politics, society and economy; the connection between historical change and legal change; the role of law in the processes of social integration and social discipline; and the distinctive elements of legal ordering in the modern west.
110: Critical Criminology and Penology, Yoav Mehozay, Tony Platt, 4 units, Area I or Area II
Untried immigrants exported to a brutal prison in El Salvador …. Revival of hardline policing and carceral policies in the United States…. Proliferation globally of “non-places” of exclusion – refugee camps, detention centers, encampments, and carceral lands…. End of liberal criminal justice reforms in Scandinavia. How to make sense of criminal justice/injustice in a world in chaos and regression?
119: Philosophy & Law in Ancient Athens, Hoekstra, 4 units, Area V
This is an introduction to important aspects of the philosophical and constitutional thought of classical Athens. We will pay particular attention to accounts of the origins of the Athenian legal system; criticisms and defenses of the democracy; arguments about the nature of justice, law, and legal obligation; and the context of the Athenian way of organizing trials, taxation, and administration. Readings from Aeschylus, Thucydides, Aristophanes, Plato, Lysias, Aristotle, and others.
126: Responsible AI, Law, Ethics & Society, Talia Schwartz, 4 units, Area III or Area IV
The deployment of Artificial Intelligence systems in multiple domains of society raises fundamental challenges and concerns, such as accountability, liability, fairness, transparency and privacy. The dynamic nature of AI systems requires a new set of skills informed by ethics, law, and policy to be applied throughout the life cycle of such systems: design, development and deployment. Tackling these challenges calls for an interdisciplinary approach: deconstructing
these issues by discipline and reconstructing with an integrated mindset, principles and practices. This course aims to do so by bringing together students into teams that work together on joint tasks in class sessions, where each of the classes will be devoted to a distinct legal or ethical question relating to AI. The sessions will include lectures, discussions, group work and guest lecture. The class is designed to allow for experiential learning experiences: a substantial portion of class time you'll be spending in working on real-world legal challenges in a case-study format.
136: Law and Rights in Authoritarian States, Stern, 4 units, Area IV or V
This course investigates the reasons why authoritarian leaders devolve power to courts and the control strategies they deploy to keep judges, lawyers and plaintiffs in check. The course will mix more theoretical readings on approaches to law and the logic of courts with empirical studies of how law works in four settings: Nazi Germany, East Germany, China, and Russia. Throughout the semester, we will ask ourselves how world historical time (e.g. the rise of rights talk, the global trend increased judicial power) and regime type (e.g. military dictatorship, competitive authoritarianism, one-party states) influence both the letter and the practice of law. In addition to scholarly books and articles, course materials will include original court documents as well as memoirs and films that illustrate how ordinary people experience the legal system.
138: The Supreme Court & Public Policy, Kyle Deland, 4 units, Core (SS) or Area IV or V
This course examines a number of leading U.S. Supreme Court decisions in terms of what policy alternatives were available to the Court and which ones it chose. Prospective costs and benefits of these alternatives and who will pay the costs and who gets the benefits of them are considered. Among the areas considered are economic development, government regulation of business, national security, freedom of speech and discrimination. Readings are solely of Supreme Court decisions.
141: Wall Street to Main Street, Brilliant/Solomon, 4 units, Area III (room-shared with American Studies 102 and History 133B)
As longstanding metaphors in American history and culture, “Wall Street” and “Main Street” typically refer to streets that intersect at right angles and places that represent the antithesis of each other. In this rendering, Wall Street is home to nefarious big banks and greedy financiers, while Main Street is home to wholesome “mom-and-pop” shops patronized by ordinary people of modest means. What’s good for one is not good for the other. This course, which will be co-taught by a historian and corporate law professor, will examine critical junctures in the intersection of Wall Street and Main Street in American history and culture, how and why Wall Street and Main Street have been understood to point in opposite directions, the extent to which that understanding makes sense, and how and why the relationship between Wall Street and Main Street has evolved over time.
142: Monetary Law and Regulation, Bruno Meyerhof Salama, 4 units, Area III or V
This course surveys the history of US monetary law from its inception to the coming about of cryptocurrencies. We begin with a discussion of monetary affairs in colonial times and during the American Revolutionary War. We then examine the framework established at the Constitutional Convention. We cover the 19th century and New Deal Supreme Court cases that shaped US monetary law as we know it today. Finally we discusses contemporary legal dilemmas such as the regulation of bitcoin and stablecoins, the creation of central bank digital currencies, the workarounds of the US debt ceiling and the debate over the spectrum of the Fed’s legal authority. We conclude by revisiting some classic questions concerning the nature and functions of money.
145: Law & Economics I, Dhammika Dharmapala, 4 units, Core (SS) or Area III
This course introduces economics as a tool for analyzing, evaluating and interpreting the legal framework that underpins a market economy. The first part examines the most basic legal foundations of markets, namely property, contract, corporate, tort, administrative and criminal law. The second part introduces relevant topics in the regulation of markets. It covers a few conceptual questions (the role of efficiency considerations in law and policy, the concept of regulations and the role of courts, and the dilemma between growth and distribution) as well as applied topics such as insurance, bankruptcy, labor, family, antitrust, and intellectual property law.
147: Law & Economics II, Bruno Meyehof Salama, 4 units, Area III
Microeconomic theory will be applied to government and regulation. Topics include the economic analysis of constitutional law, administrative law, regulation, corporations, and environmental law. To illustrate, the behavior of legislators who want to maximize the votes that they receive will be described and predicted. Similarly, the behavior of regulatory agencies who seek to maximize their own budgets will be predicted. The best forms of regulation will be identified assuming that parties subject to it minimize the cost of compliance, as when corporations try to satisfy environmental controls at least cost. Law & Economics I (LS 145) is not a prerequisite.
150: Intimate Partner Violence, Mallika Kaur, 4 units, Area I or IV
This course will investigate the phenomenon of intimate partner violence (also known as family violence, or domestic violence), by studying empirical evidence; theories of violence; and the disparate impacts on different communities. Through a trauma-centered and intersectional approach, students will be positioned to assess and analyze the responses by our legal system to this persistent and prevalent social problem.
157: International Relations & International Law, Mallika Kaur, Lisa Reinsberg, 4 units, Area IV or V
This course will evaluate and assess modern theories of international law. We will examine the work of legal scholars and look to political science and economics to see how these disciplines inform the study of international law. We will also examine a host of fundamental questions in international law, including, for example, why states enter into international agreements, why states comply with international law, and what kind of state conduct is likely to be influenced by international law.
159: Introduction to Law & Sexuality, Sonia Katyal, 4 units, Area II or IV
This course focuses on the legal regulation of sexuality, and the social and historical norms and frameworks that affect its intersection with sex, gender, race, disability, and class. We will critically examine how the law shapes sexuality and how sexuality shapes the law. Our subject matter is mostly constitutional, covering sexuality’s intersection with privacy, freedom of expression, gender identity and expression, equal protection, reproduction, kinship, and family formation, among other subjects. We will study case law, legal articles, and other texts (including visual works) that critically engage issues of sexuality, citizenship, nationhood, religion, and the public and private spheres domestically and internationally.
160: Punishment, Culture, & Society, Kristin Sangren, 4 units, Core (H,SS) or Area I or II
This course surveys the development of Western penal practices, institutions, and ideas (what David Garland calls “penality”) from the eighteenth-century period to the present. Our primary focus will be on penal practices and discourses in United States in the early 21st century. In particular we will examine the extraordinary growth of US penal sanctions in the last quarter century and the sources and consequences of what some have called “mass imprisonment.” To gain some comparative perspective the course will also take up contemporary penality (or penalities) in Europe, South Africa, Central America, and Asia, as well as US penality and society at some earlier conjunctures.
In our analysis of penality, we will draw upon a range of social science theories with general relevance but with particularly rich application to the study of punishment. These theories provide the “tool kits” we will use to interpret and analyze multiplex implications of punishment and its relationship to changes in economic, social, and political relations associated with modernization and more recently the globalization of modern capitalism. The course will examine many examples of penal practices and the ideas associated with them including mass imprisonment, the death penalty, and restorative justice. In the last portion of the class we will examine the recent crisis in California’s juvenile prisons through the lenses both of different social theories and the examples of different national and historical penal patterns.
162AC – Restorative Justice, Julie Shackford-Bradley, 4 units, Area IV
This course will examine the theory and practice of restorative justice, with an emphasis on the ways that criminal justice systems implicate the emotions and the social integration of both victims and offenders. The course will begin with a critical examination of the current focus of the criminal justice system on retribution and incarceration. It will explore the racially disproportionate effects of this system, a product both of governmental failures to recognize the continuing economic, social and psychological effects of slavery and Jim Crow, and law’s failure to look beyond a narrow, individually-oriented notion of discrimination. The course will also interrogate the ways that existing approaches function – at times, purposefully – to foster vengeance and contempt toward offenders as a social category, complicating the process of re-entry and reintegration.
170: Crime & Criminal Justice, Nicole Lindahl-Ruiz, 4 units, Area I
This course introduces scholarly frameworks for thinking about crime and criminal justice, and traces through case law and scholarship the evolution of these earlier conceptions into today’s policy debates. It examines the scope and nature of crime in the United States from a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective, focusing on the uses and limits of the criminal justice system. The course will introduce concepts of criminal process and the main elements of the criminal justice system, including police, courts, and corrections. It will consider the main institutional features, problems, and critiques of the processes through which suspects are apprehended, tried, sentenced, and punished. Past and current trends and policy questions will be discussed.
174: Comparative Constitutional Law: The Case of Israel, Ayelet Blecher, 4 units, Area IV or V
This course introduces key issues in constitutional law and theory, using a comparative perspective with a focus on the Israeli constitutional system. The course will explore topics such as the principles and controversies surrounding judicial review, the evolution of Israeli constitutionalism, the interpretation and application of fundamental rights like equality, privacy, and freedom of religion. By examining these issues through a comparative perspective, students will develop critical thinking skills and a deeper appreciation for the role of constitutional frameworks in addressing complex societal debates. The course also offers insights into challenges that mirror those faced in the United States, particularly regarding the respective roles of the judiciary, the legislature, and the constitution in resolving divisive issues.
177: American Legal & Constitutional History, Kyle Deland, 4 units, Core (H) or Area II or III or V
This course explores the history of American legal institutions and doctrine from colonial times to the present. It deals both with the history of American constitutional law (through the study of major U.S. Supreme Court opinions) and with the development of certain important bodies of non-constitutional law, such as the law of property, the law of torts (civil wrongs), and criminal law. In exploring how American law has developed over time the course may serve as something of an introduction to our current legal and constitutional order.
184: Sociology of Law, Kristin Sangren, 4 units, Core (SS) or Area IV
This introductory course explores major issues and debates in the sociology of law. Topics include theoretical perspectives on the relationship between law and society, theories of why people obey (and disobey) the law, the relationship between law and social norms, the “law in action” in litigation and dispute resolution, the roles of lawyers, judges, and juries in the legal system and in society, and the role of law in social change. The course will examine these issues from an empirical perspective.
- SPECIAL TOPICS & HONORS Courses-
190.1: Liberty, Equality, Privilege & the Constitution, Alan Pomerantz, 4 units, Area IV
The course will examine current Supreme Court decisions that address the conflict between individual liberty and governmental mandated equality as informed by privilege. Specifically, recent Supreme Court decisions have addressed and modified numerous rights and liberties once thought to be protected by the Constitution, based on the Court’s current reasoning that when the Constitution is silent, or "neutral," the extent of protection from governmental abridgment of personal liberty and individual sovereignty should be left to the people and their democratically elected representatives. Recent topics have included woman’s equality including abortion; LGBTQ+ rights including marriage equality and gender identity; the conflict between privacy and collective morality; religious exercise and state sponsorship of religious institutions; speech and expression; racial profiling; affirmative action; and voting. The class will be conducted primarily using the Socratic method. We will read important historical and current Supreme Court cases, as well as political and legal commentary from across the political spectrum. The prime focus of the seminar is to encourage students to develop and defend their own views and opinions regarding the relevant topics and to enhance their critical thinking skills.
190.2: The Imperial Origins of U.S. Policing, Eduardo Bautista-Druan, 4 units, Area I
Description TBD
190.3: Memory in Legal Principle & Process, Daniel Levy, 4 units, Area I
Human memory plays a key role in legal thought, institutions, and procedures. In a wide range of circumstances – evaluating the reliability of testimony, appreciating challenges to judges and jurors in learning and retaining information presented during a trial, assessing intent and culpability for
plagiarism, or considering the admissibility of a plaintiff’s repressed memories – assumptions about the nature of memory play a vital role. This course will explore recent progress in the understanding of the nature and brain substrates of human memory. For each topic, the relevant basic cognitive psychology
and neuroscience information will be introduced in non-specialist terms. We will then consider the implications of those insights for philosophical attitudes, legal processes, and societal institutions.
***CANCELED***190.4: Immigration Detention, Tilman Jacobs, 4 units, Area(s) TBD***CANCELED***
Description TBD***CANCELED***
190.5: Rhetoric of the War on Drugs, Nicole Lindahl-Ruiz, 4 units, Area I or Area IV
“Superpredators.” “Crack babies.” “Welfare queens.” These are some of the labels and images that fueled the escalation of the “War on Drugs,” a series of federal and state laws that was a key factor in the largest expansion of incarceration in world history. This course will situate the late 20th century escalation of the “War on Drugs” within the longer history of drug criminalization in the US by examining depictions of drug users and sellers – particularly youth, women, and people of color – in legal doctrine, political discourse, journalism, television, and film from the late 1800s to the present day. What patterns and threads emerge across these depictions? What are the “master narratives” they sit within and perpetuate? What do these figures of “the other” tell us about the fears and anxieties, power dynamics, and repressions that operate under the surface of US society?
190.6: Law, Economics, and Inequality, Dhammika Dharmapala, 4 units, Area III
Inequality with respect to income and wealth – both within countries and at the global level – has attracted increased attention and scholarly discussion in recent years. This course provides an overview of this topic and its relationship to law and legal institutions. Its conceptual framework draws primarily on the economic analysis of law and the theory of taxation, but also considers various other normative and theoretical perspectives, including those from moral philosophy. Topics to be covered include (but are not limited to) the following: the empirical facts on within-country and global income and wealth inequality; theories of distributive justice within societies and at a global level; economic perspectives on the use of private law doctrines to redistribute wealth; the relationship between meritocracy and economic inequality; the role of anti-discrimination law in reducing inequality; the role of the family in transmitting inequality; college admissions, social mobility and inequality; the impact of economic inequality on political equality; the history of restrictions on the electoral franchise and their relationship to political inequality; tax evasion, tax avoidance, tax havens and their impact on inequality.
****Canceled 190.7: Criminal Justice in the U.S.: Policing, Incarceration, & Paths to Reform, Goldstein, 4 units, Area I ****Canceled
This course will examine policing and mass incarceration in the contemporary United States. The first half of the course will explore policing, considering how the modern police emerged, whether police reduce crime, and why police violence persists. The second half of the course will turn to mass incarceration, examining how the U.S. came to incarcerate people at a greater rate than any nation in history, along with the individual and social consequences of incarceration. For both policing and mass incarceration, we will devote significant focus to the prospects for reform.
190.8: Sexuality and Social Theory, Jason Ferguson, 4 units, Area II or Area IV
What did classical social theorists write about sexuality? How have contemporary scholars built on and challenged their work to rethink sexual desire, identity, practice and regulation? This course traces the lineage of contemporary theories of sexuality back to the founding ideas of sociology. The course will pair classical texts in social theory with contemporary texts from the postwar period. We will examine, for example, works of theorists in the Marxian tradition on capitalism and sexual cultures, theorists in the Durkheimian tradition on the “cult of the individual” and the emergence of gay rights, Weberian theorists on bureaucracy and the organization of sexuality, and theorists in the Freudian tradition on civilization, sexual repression and sexual liberation, etc. For those who have already studied social theory, it will be an opportunity to revisit the classics; for those who have not, it will be a chance at a first encounter. The class will also introduce students to “queer of color” and postcolonial critiques, which also engage deeply with classical sociological texts. Prior knowledge of social theory is not a prerequisite for this course.
190.9: Intro to International Criminal Law, Monica Castillejos Aragon, 4 units, Area I or V
With a “Justice on Screen” approach, this seminar aims at introducing the students to the practical application and challenges of international criminal law. Based on recent geopolitical developments, a group of documentaries will present a historical context and current developments that includes the nature and scope of the core crimes under international law: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. The documentaries
assigned during lectures are essential tools for education as they address challenges of international criminal justice, while placing each lecture topic in context. At the end of the semester, students will acquire a general understanding of how international criminal law ensures and sometimes not justice to victims of international crimes.
190:10: Family Policing & Defense, Meredith Ellen Wallis, 4 units, Area I, II
This class is on the law, practice and history of State removal of children to foster care, with family defense in California dependency serving as a case study. The course focus is not whether the system is good or bad, but what type of assumptions, familiar notions, and ways of thinking have contributed to family separation as an accepted practice for the protection of children and promotion of their well-being. Child welfare courts in California are considered non-adversarial—in fact they are called “collaborative”—and are technically civil (or at least quasi-civil), but the closest analog to the actual process is criminal law, i.e. adults receive charges from the State which, after adjudication, could result in the indefinite removal of a family member. Given this, the class would
likely be primarily interesting to those looking to learn more about criminal defense in a parallel system, one which deals in managing risks, mostly those posed by poverty, substance use, and intimate partner violence.
H195A: Honors Seminar, Morrill, 5 units, Area N/A
Students contemplating an Honors thesis must be enrolled in the first half of the program with LS H195A in the Fall of their senior year, which is aimed specifically at preparing them for the task. The seminar will cover such important subjects as selecting a thesis topic that is both interesting and capable of investigation within the limits of a single semester, developing and implementing an effective research strategy, and completing the writing. UCB GPA 3.5 Legal Studies GPA 3.5 required.
During the following Spring semester, students who continue with the Honors Program (LS H195B) will complete a substantial research paper under the supervision of a faculty member.
To apply for the Honors Seminar LS H195A for Fall, please refer to the application info under ‘Research Opportunities’ then ‘Honors Program’ on the Legal Studies website.