UNITED STATES: LAW AND POLITICS. GLOBAL TAKE-HOME EVALUATION
Answer question A (US Policy) plus any other two questions. In all your answers, you must make connections to our discussions, class activities, and readings. Submission: You need to hand in this evaluation personally on November 30, 2016 at 7 pm IN CLASS. There are no other submission dates or places. If this evaluation is not submitted as required, it will NOT be marked. Please read the evaluation criteria from the course syllabus.
A. US policy
Read the article by R. Soave entitled "Trump Won Because Leftist Political Correctness Inspired a Terrifying Backlash" available online. Briefly summarize the main idea of the article. Discuss why you agree or disagree with the main thesis of the article.
B. Commerce clause
What is the commerce clause? Outline the Gibbons v. Ogden case (22 U.S. 1 (1824). Find two other SCOTUS cases dealing with the commerce clause and briefly explain them.
C. Presidential campaign
Explain and discuss the following campaign phrases: "drain the swamp", "lock'er up", and "build the wall". What role did they play in the election?
D. Second amendment
Discuss the Supreme Court case District of Columbia v. Heller (554 U.S. 570 (2008). What are Trump's and Clinton's position on this case? Suppose you are a liberal Justice of the US Supreme Court. Write a dissenting opinion.
E. Mythical founding of the United States
Read the article "The Use of Myth in History: Many Myths Are Designed to Explain Us as We Wish to See Ourselves" by Gil Klein. Based on the article, analyze the following dialogue from Bertolt Brecht's play "Galileo": Andrea: "Pity the land that has no hero."
Galileo: "No, Andrea. Pity the land that needs a hero." Also discuss -historical or contemporary- examples that illustrate the mythical founding of the United States.
F. US Constitution
Choose an article of the US Constitution and explain it and discuss it. Please also discuss its interpretation by the US Supreme Court and references by presidential candidates during the 2016 campaigns.
G. California criminal justice propositions
California voted some propositions related to Criminal Law. Discuss these propositions.
H. Microaggressions
Discuss the Emory University 'Trump 2016' writing on sidewalk, which students and the University President deemed as a racist microaggression. Also discuss the concept of micro aggression and provide other examples.