Apart from their assigned mod courses, 1L students may only enroll in courses offered as 1L electives. A complete list of these courses can be found on the 1L Elective Listings page. 1L students must use the 1L class number listed on the course description when enrolling.
225 sec. 001 - Legislation and Statutory Interpretation (Spring 2022)
Instructor: Brian G Slocum
View all teaching evaluations for this course - degree students only
Units: 3
Grading Designation: Graded
Mode of Instruction: In-Person
Meeting:
TuTh 11:20 AM - 12:35 PM
Location: Law 140
From January 11, 2022
To April 22, 2022
Course End: April 22, 2022
Class Number: 31893
Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 22
Waitlisted: 0
Enroll Limit: 68
As of: 07/19 11:58 AM
This course will introduce students to the legislative process and statutory interpretation, focusing on the latter subject. Statutes govern nearly every aspect of our society and our economy, and this course will give students the tools to understand how statutes come to be and how they are interpreted and applied in practice.
We will spend our initial class meetings considering the perspective from which courts should interpret statutes. Courts often claim to interpret statutes from the perspective of an ordinary person, but statutes have technical language and often apply to heavily regulated areas of the economy. If the ordinary person perspective is unrealistic, we will consider whether the standard be that of an ordinary lawyer or member of Congress. Our focus will be on statutory interpretation done by the courts in the first instance. We will cover theories of statutory interpretation, the use of legislative history, and major canons of construction. We will also examine doctrines of judicial deference to administrative agencies' statutory interpretations.
In exploring these topics, we will consider cases and materials from many substantive areas of law, including all or most of criminal law, civil rights law, environmental law, labor and employment law, health care law, and national security law. The course will thus provide students with a small taste of many different areas of law. There are not, however, any prerequisites for the course.
Exam Notes: (F) In-class final exam
Exam Length: 3 hours
Course Category: Public Law and Policy
If you are the instructor or their FSU, you may add a file like a syllabus or a first assignment to this page.
Readers:
No reader.
Books:
Required Books are in blue
- Modern Statutory Interpretation: Problems, Theories, and Lawyering Strategies
Linda D. Jellum, David Charles Hricik
Edition: 2d ed., 2009
Publisher: Carolina Academic Press
ISBN: 9781594606755
e-Book Available: Yes
e-Book procurement note: https://redshelf.com/book/839014/modern-statutory-interpretation-839014-9781531011222-linda-d-jellum-and-david-charles-hricik
Copyright Date: To Be Determined
Price: $70.00
Price Source: user provided