Washington Center

The Politics and Process of the U.S. Judiciary

Credits: 
4
Day and Time: 
Wednesdays, 10:00am - 1:00pm
Quarter Dates: 
January 5 - March 9, 2022
Semester Dates: 
January 5 - April 13, 2022
Campus: 
UCDC
Category: 
Core Seminar
Description: 
The theme of this course is that the judiciary is a political institution in the American scheme of government. This topic couldn’t be more relevant than it is now in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election as we witness courts across the country actively involved in resolving numerous and varied disputes arising from political conflicts. Our focus will be less on the substantive issues, per se (this is not a civil liberties or constitutional law course), and more on the institutional structures, personnel, and processes that affect the outcomes of court business. We will examine the organization of both state and federal courts at the trial and appellate levels; the many actors who participate in courts, such as litigants, lawyers, judges, juries, and interest groups. Also, we will distinguish between civil and criminal courts to understand how and why disputes are resolved in court. By the end of the term, you will understand how the judiciary is as much a political as it is a legal institution and is a fundamental part of American politics.
 
Among the course requirements will be field assignments, so students should not schedule work hours on our seminar day.
 
 
*Requirement for ALL semester students:  
The last four weeks of this semester (March 23 to April 13) will be spent in a special topics module taught by Professor Marc Sandalow on Wednesdays, 6:30-9:30 p.m. This module will account for 15% of the core seminar final course grade. Please contact Professor Sandalow (marc.sandalow@ucdc.edu) with questions. 
 
**NO additional registration required.

Past Syllabus

About the Instructor: Professor Jennifer Diascro is Associate Director at the University of California Washington Program (UCDC) and a political scientist. She earned her BA in political science from the University of California, San Diego (1990) and her PhD in political science from the Ohio State University (1995). She was on the faculty at the University of Kentucky (1995-2002) and American University (2002-2010). In 2000-01, she was a Supreme Court Fellow at the US Sentencing Commission in Washington, DC. Before coming to UCDC, Professor Diascro was a senior director at the American Political Science Association (2011-2015). She's authored or coauthored peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and books, on topics related to American judicial politics, and was CO-PI on an NSF award for a workshop on success and failure in the academy.

Course ID: 
UCDC191I02W22