Law and Politics in US History
Law and Politics in US History, or simply Law and Politics, is a Humanities course in the CTY program with no prerequisites. Its course code is LAWP, and it is offered at Los Angeles and (as of 09.1) Baltimore. It was also offered at Loudonville.
Course Description
Law and Politics is an intensive study of Constitutional Law in the US. Often, over forty cases are studied, and briefs are written on many of them. Notable cases include Marbury v. Madison, Brown v. Board of Education, Roe v. Wade, Garret F. v. Cedar Rapids Community School District, and Miranda v. Arizona, among others. Major course highlights have included a paper written in dispute of a Supreme Court judgment, and a Mock Trial.
Class History
In 05.2 at a unknown site, LAWP was taught by Dan Kirsch and TA'd by Rebecca Vernon. The students enrolled consisted of Caroline, Sterling, Chris, Emily, James, Liz, Max, Mike, Judy, Peter, Elise, Dan, John, Lindsay, in that seating order from the left to the right, east to the west.
In LOS.07.1, LAWP was taught by Carolle Im and TA'd by Mari Crabtree. Carolle was known for wearing a different pair of shoes each day, given that she supposedly owned over 250. The Mock Trial was Ian Fectious v. Tagen Burger: Ian Fectious was a highschool student who claimed that he got sick from eating at Tagen Burger fast food chain. The Ethics class served as the Jury. Tagen Burger won the case, 15 to 0.
In 2006, the class was known as the Legal Eagles. In 2007, Carolle wanted to call the class the Legal Beagles, but the class wanted to be called the Constutional Cows.
In LOU.07.1. LAWP continued to be taught by Dan Kirsch and TA'd by Rebecca Vernon. The students enrolled were Georgia, Cody, Alicia, Ian, Zhenny, Dan (Nixon), Lucy, and Adam, in that order from left to right. The class name was The Justice League, as dubbed by Ian and as unanimously agreed upon. Students had their own individual superhero that belonged in the Justice League (besides Zhenny who insisted on being Catwoman). Also, Rebecca Vernon would post the scores of any baseball games going on during study hall which led to many off-topic discussions on baseball teams and whether (the Red Sox player) Coco Crisp was really a breakfast cereal.
In LOU.08.1 LAWP was taught be Thomas Adams and TA'd by Anabel Aponte. The class consisted of, Shang, Conor, Russel, James, Lars, Louie, Liam, Claire, Eva, Emily W, Ally, Jenny, Sarah, Miriam, Maddie, Emily S, and Steph. They often barged into other classrooms during class and recited documents such as the Declaration of Independence and made a scene at dinner on the fourth of July by shouting "We don't want yo bloody tea" in British accents and stomping outside to pour their tea on the ground.
In LOS.08.1. Carolle Im returned, with a TA named Katy Leenerts, and was still known for her crazy shoes. This class could often be heard yelling "That's wassup!" at the top of their lungs whenever called upon, something created by a kid named Sol. The students enrolled were Kate, Christopher/Choi, Kevin/Chewy, Esther, Isabel, Minkee, Esmeralda, Margeaux, Sarah, Yu Jong, Simon/Sol, Elizabeth, Emily, Hannah, Michelle, and Becca. A very loud class, to tell the truth. The Mock Trial case was called New Jersey v. Avery Fisher. Avery Fisher was charged with aggravated and reckless manslaughter after her daughter Chris collapsed in the pool after a swim meet. The Ethics class served as jury, and found Avery Fisher not guilty on both charges. Carolle was also known-at least in her class-for making one student her "purse pet", and another her pet "F.O.B".
In LOS.08.2 LAWP was taught by Jason Saltmarsh , with the same TA as the previous session (Katy Leenarts). The students enrolled were Ryan, Raymond, Morgot, Kristen, Adam, Eunice, Marina, Amanda, Emily, Sara, Hee, Laura, Joshua, and Alex. The class with the most frisbee™ injuries (Ryan's fault, mostly). The case was the same, and the jury was the same, and decision was the same (on the second charge, it was only overturned by two people). This class one took an hour arguing whether violence is the only way to overthrow a government (13-1 in favor of using violence) and wrote "Promote civilization, use sterilization" on their poster for closing ceremonies. Jason was famous for taking an entire day to define fact, history, and law, and for making the class study Buck v. Bell, a case about sterilization laws, where "Three generations of imbeciles are enough" (Chief Justice Oliver Wendel Holmes) decided the case.
In JHU.09.1 LAWP was taught by Mark Hohmann, along with TA Sarah Stanley. Students enrolled were Barton, Chris, Ron, Tony, Sam, Justin, Alex, Maddie, Fola, Kat, Chaeri, Katrina, Christine, Sue, and JiMin. This class was known for randomly bursting into "The Narwhal Song" (Usually lead by Barton, Ron and Tony). In addition, they were known for guiding in-class discussions wildly off-topic (A discussion about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson became a debate about the ethical and Constitutional aspects of abortion.) and bothering Sarah. Among the class, Sarah was known to have a "split personality" with the second personality named Rachel. This was brought about by Ron calling Sarah "Rachel" by accident in class one day.
