PRLS 360 - Bill of Rights
Issues in Parks, Schools and Public Places (3)
Fall 2006
PREREQUISITES: None
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will examine Bill
of Rights issues within parks, schools, and public places, particularly those
involving First Amendment free speech and freedom of religion issues (e.g.
political protests, religious displays, and use permits).
SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL
SCIENCES GENERAL EDUCATION GOAL STATEMENT
This course will provide
students with an understanding of social science, specifically constitutional
law. Students will be exposed to a particular form of social science
methodology and reasoning, specifically the manner in which federal court
opinions apply legal principles and analysis to define the constitutional
rights of individuals in parks, schools, and public places.
COURSE OVERVIEW
This course provides students
with a basic understanding of the legal process and its interpretation of the
Bill of Rights by federal courts in modern society. In so doing, this course will provide
students with an opportunity to reflect on the democratic principles that have
shaped our nation as expressed in the Bill of Rights. General principles
governing constitutional rights, particularly freedom of speech and religion,
in parks, schools, and public places will be presented. Students will be
introduced to the reasoning and legal analysis applied by federal courts to
balance constitutional rights of the individual against the inherent power of
government to preserve the public health, safety, and welfare.
Students are expected to view
each weekly class lecture broadcast over GMU-TV. Four closed book exams, consisting of 30 – 50 multiple choice questions, will
measure students’ understanding of the applicable rules of law illustrated by
the required reading material for each unit in the course.
GMU e-mail will be the
primary means of communication to respond to student inquiries and update the
class on any course schedule changes.
University policy requires all GMU students to activate and access their
GMU e-mail.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
At the completion of this
course, students should be able to:
4.
Identify and distinguish
the relevant rules of law cited by courts to resolve issues of constitutional
law involving parks, schools, and public places.
5.
Describe the
legal analysis and methodology applied by courts to resolve issues of
constitutional law.
REQUIRED
Students will be required to read and study a
compilation of case reports and related constitutional law articles. These case reports and related articles will
be available for reading, downloading and printing on the PRLS 360 site at the
following address:
http://mason.gmu.edu/~jkozlows/360.htm
In addition, this course will utilize readily
available information resources on the Internet which provide access to recent
relevant federal court opinions and other law related publications.
EVALUATION
4
exams (closed book, weighted equally 25%)
Each exam is composed of 30 – 50
multiple choice questions. The exams are based on required readings and class lectures. To prepare for the exams, students will be
required to focus on the applicable rules of law illustrated and distinguished
by the case reports and court opinions in the required readings.
Each exam will test students’ understanding of general
principles of constitutional law and case examples described in the required
readings and lectures. Exam questions will
measure students' abilities to identify general legal principles used by the
court to resolve questions of constitutional law in a particular case.
Grading Scale
A 94-100
A- 90-93
B+ 88-89
B 84-87
B- 80-83
C+ 78-79
C 74-77
C- 70-73
D 60-69
F 0-59
All students are held to the standards of the George Mason University Honor
Code.
Students with Disabilities: Students having documentation on file with the
Disability Support Services Office should bring this to the attention of the
professor.