printer friendly pageLAW 2002: Criminal Procedure: Investigation
(Formerly
Law 312) The law school offers two survey courses dealing with constitutional criminal procedure. This course, "Criminal Investigation," covers the constitutional restrictions on police investigations, especially searches, seizures, and interrogations. "Criminal Adjudication" covers the rules governing judicial proceedings following arrest or formal criminal charges. Neither course is a prerequisite for the other. Grades in this class will be based on an in-class, partial open-book final exam.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
Instructors:
Sklansky, D. (PI)
LAW 2006: Race, Class, and Punishment
Since the early 1970s, the criminal justice system in the United States has expanded dramatically. America has adopted an array of increasingly tough approaches to crime, including aggressive street-level policing, longer sentences, and a range of collateral consequences for criminal convictions. As a result, there are currently 2.2 million persons in prisons and jails and seven million under some form of correctional supervision. The impact on communities of color has been especially profound: In many of our nation's cities, nearly one-half of young black men are in the criminal justice system. This seminar will begin with readings discussing the tough-on-crime era's historical roots. We will then turn to examine the impact of these policies. Finally, we will turn to current efforts to resist and reform the system that has been created. This portion of the seminar will focus on violent crime, and whether and how to respond to violent crime differently than we currently do. The assigned reading will be substantial, and will come from a wide variety of sources, including history, sociology, political science, criminology, and law. Elements used in grading: Attendance, Class Participation, Written Assignments, Final Paper.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Forman, J. (PI)
LAW 2008: Three Strikes Project: Criminal Justice Reform & Individual Representation
(Formerly
Law 419) This seminar offers an opportunity to study criminal justice reform in real time. Students read and analyze a variety of cases and articles, examining the evolution of incarceration and sentencing reform--focusing largely on California's 'Three Strikes' recidivist sentencing law as a case study in the history, politics, constitutional doctrine, practical considerations and legal regulation of sentencing policy and "mass incarceration" throughout the country. Students will also test their skills in the field by assisting with the representation of individual inmates sentenced to long prison terms for nonviolent crimes in state and federal courts. The Project has been intimately involved in the movement to reduce incarceration in California, leading ballot measures that implemented legislative reforms to shorten prison sentences and representing individual prisoners sentenced to life for nonviolent crimes. Based on this experience, the Project was recently asked by the Obama administration to support prisoners who receive sentence commutations from the President. Students enrolled in the seminar are involved in all aspects of the Project's work, including assistance with different stages of ongoing litigation. Students will visit a Project client in prison, conduct factual investigations, and draft petitions on our clients' behalf. The Project is an active, fast-paced organization that depends on the hard work and contributions of law students enrolled in this seminar. This seminar offers the opportunity to both study the theory behind the law and to hone practical litigation and advocacy skills in and out of the courtroom. The seminar will meet for 3 hours per week. Students will also meet for 1 hour individually and in teams with Project director Mike Romano each week to discuss their work on their projects. CONSENT APPLICATION: Interested students must apply to enroll in the seminar by sending a one-page statement of interest and resume by email with the subject line "application" to Mike Romano (mromano@stanford.edu). Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. Elements used in grading: Class Participation, Attendance, Written Assignments.
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Romano, M. (PI)
LAW 2009: White Collar Crime
(Formerly
Law 670) This course explores the law of economic and political crimes associated with the rubric "white collar crime." The class is divided thematically between mens rea issues and substantive issues. Among the substantive areas which are covered are: obstruction of justice, perjury, bribery and gratuities, mail and wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering. We will study specific federal statutes in considerable detail, while also speculating about the jurisprudence underlying these crimes, and related issues of prosecutorial discretion and attorney ethics. Special instructions: Students may write a paper in lieu of the final exam for Research credit. Also, classroom participation may be taken into account to some very small degree. After the term begins, students accepted into the course can transfer from section (01) into section (02) which meets the R requirement, with consent of the instructor. Elements used in grading: Class participation and final exam or paper.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Mills, D. (PI)
LAW 2401: Advanced Civil Procedure
(Formerly
Law 253) This course will address significant areas of procedural law and design that go beyond the first-year civil procedure course, with special attention to the relevance of procedural choices to civil rights and public law litigation. Contemporary litigation frequently involves multiple related actions, multiple parties, and multiple claims that may interact in complex ways, and often aspires to reform institutions in addition to seeking remedies for discrete past harms. This course introduces procedural doctrine, theory, and practice related to complex and/or public law litigation, including such topics as the joinder of claims and parties, claim and issue preclusion, class action law, multidistrict litigation and other forms of aggregation, and the turn towards mandatory arbitration. The course should be of particular interest to aspiring litigators (in any substantive area) and social justice lawyers (litigators or otherwise), and complements other curricular offerings in complex and constitutional litigation. Elements used in grading: Exam, short paper, class participation.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Sinnar, S. (PI)
LAW 2402: Evidence
(Formerly
Law 290) This course examines the law of proof, with special attention to the Federal Rules of Evidence, constitutional restrictions on proving facts in criminal cases, and selected provisions of the California Evidence Code that diverge significantly from federal law. Topics include relevance, unfair prejudice, hearsay, confrontation, character evidence, impeachment, and expert witnesses. Elements used in grading: Final Exam.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
Instructors:
Sklansky, D. (PI)
LAW 2402: Evidence
(Formerly
Law 290) Evidence rules constrain proof at criminal and civil trials. We will study the Federal Rules of Evidence, related case law, and those constitutional concepts that limit proof at criminal trials. Topics include relevance, unfair prejudice, character evidence, impeachment, the rape shield law, hearsay, and the Confrontation and Compulsory Process Clauses. Please note that the California Bar Examiners have posted this announcement: "Applicants should be prepared to answer questions that have issues concerning the Federal Rules of Evidence and the California Evidence Code. Applicants should be prepared to compare and contrast the differences between the Federal Rules and the California Evidence Code, especially where the California rules of evidence have no specific counterparts in the Federal Rules." This evidence course covers only the Federal Rules of Evidence and does not address the California Evidence Code. Although similar principles of law govern the Federal Rules and California Code, the two sets of rules are not identical. Students preparing for the California Bar Exam will have to learn some new material. Elements used in grading: Final exam (one-half essay and one-half multiple choice).
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
Instructors:
Fisher, G. (PI)
LAW 2403: Federal Courts
(Formerly
Law 283) This course considers the role of the federal courts in the federal system. It is both an advanced course in constitutional law and a course on the institutional design of the federal courts. On the first, we consider two great themes: the allocation of power between the states and the federal government -- federalism -- and the relationship between the federal courts and the political branches of the national government -- separation of powers. On the second, we focus on the structure of the judicial system, the scope and limits of federal judicial power, essential aspects of federal court procedure, and the evolving structural response of the federal courts to changes in technology, commerce, government, and a multitude of factors that affect the business of the federal courts and the role of federal judges. Topics may include the original and appellate jurisdiction of the federal courts, Supreme Court review of state court judgments, federal common law including implied rights of action, Congressional power to limit the jurisdiction of the federal courts and to create adjudicative bodies within the federal government but outside the requirements of Article III, state sovereign immunity, justiciability, abstention and other doctrines of restraint, and the role of the federal courts in the war on terrorism. This course is highly recommended for students planning to practice in the federal courts, and many judges consider it essential preparation for a judicial clerkship. This course complements Constitutional Litigation (
Law 641), and students, especially those who plan to clerk, will benefit from taking both courses. Elements used in grading: Class Participation, Exam.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
Instructors:
Engstrom, D. (PI)
LAW 2403: Federal Courts
(Formerly
Law 283) This course addresses the role of the federal courts in the American system of federalism and separation of powers, as well as their role in the development of substantive federal law and constitutional rights. A central premise of the course is that the institutional, political, and constitutional features of federal court litigation cannot be understood without engaging the historical context, especially the social, political, and legal movements, in response to which the federal courts have developed. Thus while many of the traditional aspects of federal court jurisprudence will be covered (e.g., federal common law including implied rights of action, justiciability doctrines and other doctrines of restraint, congressional power to limit the jurisdiction of the federal courts and to create "legislative courts" outside of Article III, Supreme Court review of judgments, state sovereign immunity, litigating against the government, and federal habeas corpus), doctrine will be placed alongside interdisciplinary readings on social, political, and theoretical accounts that reveal how the courts and ordinary Americans have come to understand the distinctive role of the federal courts, as well as claims for expansion or contraction of their powers. The course is strongly recommended for students interested in pursuing a career in litigation and/or judicial clerkships in the federal courts. Elements used in grading: Class attendance, class participation, take home exam.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
Instructors:
Spaulding, N. (PI)
LAW 2404: Global Litigation
(Formerly
Law 749) German owned VW admits that it included a "defeat device" in the software for its diesel cars so they could fraudulently pass US environmental tests, and is sued by thousands of US consumers in state and federal courts in the US. Very quickly, the cases are consolidated here in the federal court in Northern California. Meanwhile, special purpose foundations are established in the Netherlands to seek a settlement with VW on behalf of European consumers under the Dutch collective settlement act, and a securities lawsuit on behalf of investors whose share values have dropped dramatically is filed in Germany, using that country's special group litigation procedure. The Dutch foundations may be coordinating their actions with US lawyers, the shareholders in Germany are represented by the local partners of a leading US-based litigation boutique, and the shareholder suit is funded by a UK-based international litigation financing firm. In 2011, US-based Apple sues Korea-based Samsung for patent infringement in N.D. CA and Samsung counter-sues in Korea, Japan and Germany. A year later more than 50 lawsuits are ongoing in more than 10 countries. Two years later the companies agree to drop their litigation outside the US and focus their resources on their US litigation battle. Apple wins a big judgment in the federal court in San Jose but in the past several years its award has been whittled down and now it is headed for the U.S. Supreme Court for reconsideration. Samsung's counsel of record is Kathleen Sullivan, former dean of Stanford Law School. Philip Morris' Hong Kong subsidiary files a claim in an international arbitration tribunal charging that Australia's public health protection statute regarding tobacco marketing violates Australia's bi-lateral investment treaty with Hong Kong. The arbitration claim is filed after the parent company unsuccessfully challenged Australia's statute before the High Court. In December 2015 the arbitration tribunal rules that it does not have jurisdiction over Philip Morris' claim effectively dismissing it. But controversy over Philip Morris¿ attempt to use investment arbitration to challenge a health regulation derails international trade negotiations between the US and the EU. These high profile cases illustrate an important aspect of complex litigation: across many different substantive domains, in court and ADR proceedings, disputes that used to be contained within national borders are now trans-national. The seminar will consider the doctrinal, procedural and practical challenges that arise when litigation goes global. We will consider the high profile cases in which these issues have played out in recent years and meet some of the lawyers who are creating a new virtual international court system for the resolution of global disputes. The goal of the seminar is to develop an understanding of how the global dimension of high-stakes complex disputes shapes parties' and lawyers' strategies and judges' decisions. The seminar will meet 3 times a week. A small number of seminar sessions will be conducted in collaboration with law faculty and students in Canada, the Netherlands and Germany, three countries that have adopted procedures for dealing with large-scale civil litigation in distinctive fashion. Special Instructions: Students on the waitlist for the course will be admitted if spots are available on the basis of priority and degree program . Elements used in grading: Class participation and course paper.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
Instructors:
Hensler, D. (PI)
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