Please Read Carefully:

This course is being offered using Blackboard Vista.as the Learning Management System.  The login for your CCA Blackboard Vista course is at http://online.ccaurora.edu.You will not be able to access your course until the start date, July 7^th.  

For technical assistance:

A support desk is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to assist you with setting up your computer and solving problems. http://www.ccaurora.edu/students/helpdesk/

CURRENT ISSUES IN LAW

PAR 207 171(Hybrid)

3 Credit Hours

(July 7-August 4)

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course provides an understanding of the current legal issues and understanding of trends applicable to law, its role in as a societal force, and the historical, political, economic, sociological, ethical and moral bases for those trends.  

HYBRID DESCRIPTION:

Hybrid courses offer the convenience of an Internet course with the opportunity to meet face to face with the instructor and classmates.  Although all of the work can be done through the internet, scheduled meeting times will be published for each course. There are mandatory onsite meetings for this class.

REQUIRED MEETING DATES, TIMES, AND LOCATION:

Tuesdays: July 7, 14, 21, 28, and August 4

6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

CLC859, Room 102

COURSE WEBSITE:

http://online.ccaurora.edu

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION:

Name

Robin Rossenfeld

Phone

303.340.7255

E-mail

Robin.Rossenfeld@CCAurora.edu

Fax

303.340.7080

Mailbox Location

CLC Building 859, Room 111

Other

Office: CLC Building 859, Room 101

REQUIRED COMPUTER SKILLS:

·         Send/receive mail

·         Download files to your computer and then open them

·         Basic word processing skills 

·         Experience with the Blackboard Vista tool or reference the help page with Information on Blackboard Vista.

REQUIRED TEXT BOOK(S):

Taking Sides, Clashing Views on Legal Issues, 13^th Ed., Katsh and Rose, (2008).

Handouts

REQUIRED MATERIALS:

REQUIRED HARDWARE/ SOFTWARE:

·         Supported Web-browser

·         Supported version of Java

·         To confirm your software is supported, run the Browser Check at http://online.ccaurora.edu

·         You can find detailed information on hardware/software support and information on the Technical issues page.

HOW TO GET STARTED:

Before the first class, review the eight steps for how to brief a case (see below)

ORIENTATION SESSION/FIRST MEETING:

July 7, 2009, from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.

You must attend this orientation session/first meeting.

OTHER INFORMATION:

EIGHT STEPS FOR HOW TO BRIEF A CASE

A case brief is a dissection of a judicial opinion -- it contains a written summary of the basic components of that decision.

FUNCTIONS OF CASE BRIEFING

Case briefing helps you acquire the skills of case analysis and legal reasoning. Briefing a case helps you understand it.

BRIEFING A CASE: THE STEPS

1. Read through the opinion first so you will understand the overall story and identify important facts, etc., before beginning to brief the case on paper.

2. Heading: a. Case name (to identify the parties);

b. Court name; c. Date of the decision; d. Case citation

3. Statement of Facts: a. Identify the relationship/status of the parties; b. Identify legally relevant facts, that is, those facts that tend to prove or disprove an issue before the court. The relevant facts tell what happened before the parties entered the judicial system; c. Identify procedurally significant facts.

4. Procedural History (PH): This is the disposition of the case in the lower court(s) that explains how the case got to the court whose opinion you are

reading

5. Issue: A statement of the issue consists of two parts -- i. the point of law in dispute; ii. the key facts of the case relating to that point of law in dispute (legally relevant facts)

6. Holding: This is a statement of law that is the court’s answer to the issue. It often is the positive or negative statement of the issue statement.

7. Rule of Law or Legal Principle Applied: This is the rule of law that the court applies to determine the substantive rights of the parties.

8. Reasoning: This is the court’s analysis of the issues and the heart of the case brief. It is the way in which the court applied the rule or legal principle to the particular facts in the case to reach its decision.

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