Law Schedule of Classes

NOTE: Course offerings change. Classes offered this semester may not be offered in future semesters.


225.32 sec. 001 - Statutory Interpretation Seminar (Fall 2022)

Instructor: Jonah B Gelbach  (view instructor's teaching evaluations - degree students only | profile)
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Units: 2
Grading Designation: Graded
Mode of Instruction: In-Person

Meeting:

W 08:00 AM - 09:50 AM
Location: 🔒 Log-in to view location

From August 24, 2022
To November 30, 2022

Course Start: August 24, 2022
Course End: November 30, 2022
Class Number: 33203

Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 14
Waitlisted: 0
Enroll Limit: 24
As of: 02/17 06:39 AM


This seminar will focus on theories of statutory interpretation and their implications for doctrine. We will consider the principal methodological rationales for approaches to statutory interpretation, as well as several additional topics:

• Legislative intent, purpose and the Legal Process school
• Textualism
• Legislative process-based “decision theory”
• Additional topics, e.g., including application of ideas to the recent Bostock v. Clayton County case

Our principal focus will be on underlying methodological frameworks, and most of our reading will be scholarship in the field.

Grades will be based primarily on writing requirements, and secondarily on class participation. Each student will be responsible for several short writing assignments during the semester. Half of these papers will involve posing a discussion questions about the coming week's reading and composing your own answers those questions. The other half will involve responding to questions posed by classmates. You will receive feedback to help you improve subsequent submissions. The first week when any students will do writing assignments will be for our third class meeting.

Both the discussion questions you provide and your answers will play an important--hopefully, guiding!--role in our in-class discussions.

It's fair to expect that students who are askers or responders in a given week will play lead roles in that week's discussion, but I expect all students to come to class prepared to participate in discussions each week, including on days when they have not written response papers.


Attendance at the first class is mandatory for all currently enrolled and waitlisted students; any currently enrolled or waitlisted students who are not present on the first day of class (without prior permission of the instructor) will be dropped. The instructor will continue to take attendance throughout the add/drop period and anyone who moves off the waitlist into the class must continue to attend or have prior permission of the instructor in order not to be dropped.


Prerequisites:
There are no prerequisites.

Students who have taken Law 225 Legislation and Statutory Interpretation will be familiar with some of the subject matter; we will delve more deeply into many issues than is typically the case in that course.

Requirements Satisfaction:


This is an Option 1 class; two Option 1 classes fulfill the J.D. writing requirement.


Exam Notes: (None) Class requires a series of papers, assignments, or presentations throughout the semester
Course Category: Public Law and Policy
This course is listed in the following sub-categories:
Litigation and Procedure

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Books:
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