Government, Administrative, and Constitutional | DEV-College of Law | Illinois

798: Social Justice and the Supreme Court

Chris Davies — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 19:46:07 +0000

This course examines the issues of police violence and racism in law enforcement, evolution of the Supreme Court’s role in policing decisions from the late eighteenth century to the mid-1950’s and landmark rulings from the Burger, Rehnquist and Roberts courts. A review of the legal reasoning the Court employs to impose minimal constitutional checks on police while gutting remedies plaintiffs might use to challenge police conduct will be addressed. Finally, the class will explore the national debate regarding inequality and how American society can move forward with common-sense police reform that incorporates best practices while assuring constitutional protection. The course focuses on the narrow issue to juxtapose to the broader movement of the Court over time.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: Evaluation will take place through a final paper.

792: Privacy Law

Krista Gaedtke — Tue, 30 Oct 2018 14:23:31 +0000

This course will examine U.S. and Illinois data privacy law, including core concepts, and key laws, regulations, and cases. Topics include the intersection of information privacy, technology and the law, access to government and private records, 4th Amendment issues, social media, HIPAA, genomic privacy, and biometrics.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: The course will be evaluated by final exam.

792: Land Use Planning

Krista Gaedtke — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 17:26:45 +0000

The Land Use Planning course provides students with an introductory understanding of the governmental structure, legal aspects, and professional practice of land use planning. Topics discussed in the class include comprehensive planning, subdivision/development regulation, by-right zoning, special approvals such as variances, planned developments, special use permits, and the intersection of land use planning with legal and planning issues in transportation. Throughout the course, we will explore questions about how policy goals are given the force of law, who participates in that process and who does not, to which populations the benefits and burdens of the law flow, and the remedies and standards of review available to individuals challenging land use planning decisions. The course provides a foundation for students interested in pursuing more advanced studies in land use law and urban planning. It will also provide practical knowledge for students seeking careers in local government or real estate law.

Sequence and Prerequisites: Law 602, Property is a prerequisite.

Evaluation:

Three assignments comprise the bulk of the grade for this course. A subdivision and zoning exercise requires students to apply ordinance language to a selection of land development proposals. A mock Plan Commission case requires students to analyze a specific land use proposal, prepare a report, and deliver a presentation in a simulated Plan Commission hearing. A short paper requires students to analyze policy and legal considerations of a current topic in land use law. In addition to these assignments, final grades may be modified on the basis of exceptionally strong or poor performance.

792: Election Law

Krista Gaedtke — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 22:27:41 +0000

This course will concentrate on the “nuts and bolts” of election laws, including an examination of the right to participate, the Voting Rights Act, election challenges, redistricting, election funding, political parties and their roles, bribery and corruption laws, and impeachments.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: Final administered examination.

798: First Amendment

Doyle — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:47:53 +0000

This course centers on the Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Topics include governmental regulation of obscenity, commercial speech, and speech implicating national security concerns; restrictions on the time, place and manner of expression; fighting words and offensive speech; punishment of false factual statements and defamation; regulation of student speech (on and off campus) and rights of protest; governmental efforts to compel private expression; public subsidies for speech the government seeks to promote; First Amendment issues in electoral processes and campaigning; symbolic speech; associational rights; and conflicts between free expression and other democratic values. Consideration of the historical origins and theoretical underpinnings of the First Amendment will help inform doctrinal rules. Some attention will also be given in the course to First Amendment issues of press, assembly, and petition.

Sequence and Prerequisites: Constitutional Law (Law 606) is a prerequisite or may be taken concurrently.

Evaluation: Final Exam

798: Illinois Constitutional Law and Policy

Chris Davies — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:47:53 +0000

This experiential course will provide students with an in-depth first hand review of the state in operation from both a historical and contemporary perspective. Current topics include the state’s budget and pension problems, political stalemates between the governmental branches, gerrymandering, the impeachment process, and home rule issues between the state and local governments.

Frequent guest speakers will bring students to the forefront of Illinois law and politics. Past guest speakers included Supreme and Appellate Court Justices, the Lieutenant Governor, the State Treasurer, a State Senator, a State Representative, Champaign’s Mayor, practitioners, and lobbyists from political interest groups who discussed the relevant day’s legal topic and its practical application directly with the students. A field trip to Springfield also ensured that the students could observe and learn about the Illinois Legislature and the Illinois Supreme Court from a behind-the-scenes perspective.

To prepare for their future legal careers, students will role-play by arguing various Illinois constitutional issues, provide constitutional advice to clients, and function as Illinois governmental employees. Students will be graded based on participation and a research paper, on a topic of their choosing. Prior students wrote on the following topics: criminal law, financial regulation, education policy, and state funded retirement plans.

Sequence and Prerequisites: Constitutional Law I

Evaluation: Students will be graded on attendance, preparation, and active participation in class and the submission of a paper, well-researched and written, on a topic involving the Illinois government mutually agreed-upon and orally presented to the class. The instructor will review a draft outline of the paper and provide assistance, where necessary, to enhance the writing experience.

792: Representative Government in the State of Illinois

Doyle — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:47:53 +0000

REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS is the study of Illinois Government, and particularly, the crises Illinois faces. Representative Government is taught by the Honorable John E. Bradley, an actual former Representative and decision maker, the former Assistant Majority Leader and Chairperson of the powerful Revenue & Finance Committee. As the Chair of Illinois’ version of Ways & Means for over a decade, Professor Bradley had a front row seat at some of the most tedious and precarious constitutional crises in modern American democracy. Whether it be the impeachment of Rod Blagojevich, the appointment of a successor to the elected but deceased Comptroller Judy Barr Topinka, or the ongoing battles of Illinois budget making, you are invited to study and discuss these crises with the people who actually navigated the State of Illinois through them.

In addition to Professor Bradley, previous classes have met with Presiding Officers of the Illinois General Assembly, Chiefs of Staff of the Illinois Governor and various agencies, Directors of State Agencies, Parliamentarians and Legal Counsel to the Illinois House of Representatives and Senate, and numerous Senators and Representatives. Political practitioners and representatives of state associations, such as the Illinois State Bar Association, and Fortune 500 companies round out a vibrant and robust assemblage of guest speakers throughout the semester.

Classes have studied the impeachment of former Governor Blagojevich from the actual legislative attorneys who prosecuted him. Others have discussed the reform of the Joint Committee of Administrative Rules with the decision makers who helped accomplish it. And students always enjoy Professor Bradley’s ability to explain the law on multiple levels, including the fascinating back stories often involved in its development. Moreover, the class encourages an environment of discussion, giving students candid and insightful information.

Each year students are invited to attend an optional field trip where they have been able to meet with the Attorney General’s office, Illinois Supreme Court personnel, the Legislative Reference Bureau (the body that actually drafts the bills for the General Assembly), and members of the General Assembly, to name a few.

Representative Government in Illinois offers an experience in learning Illinois constitutional and statutory law like no other. If you are interested in Illinois government, or in simply practicing law in Illinois, don’t miss the chance to learn Illinois law and the history behind it from the people that make it–Representative Government in Illinois.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: A final project

684: Federal Courts

Doyle — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:47:52 +0000

This course introduces the basic doctrines and concepts comprising the study of the American federal judicial system. Topics addressed include, but are not limited to: constitutional remedies, federal common law, the relationship between the federal and state courts, and invocation of federal judicial power. Additionally, this course will address several philosophical questions relating to the organization and function of the federal judiciary.

This course has three objectives: (1) familiarize students with the doctrines and concepts that govern the federal judicial system; (2) assist students in developing the ability to analyze those doctrines and concepts, and to persuasively apply them to varied factual situations, and; (3) deepen students’ understanding of the historical, philosophical, and practical considerations that underlie the federal judicial system.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: Exam grade with potential adjustment based upon classroom participation.

615: Administrative Law

Doyle — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:47:52 +0000

This course is an introduction to the law of the administrative state—to the statutory and judge-made rules governing what agencies do, the procedures they must follow, and how they can be held to account. Topics include mechanisms for control of agencies by the legislative and executive branches; the constitutional basis for, and limits on, governance by agencies; the availability and effects of judicial review over agency action; and the features of agency rulemaking and adjudication.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: Papers/Project/Take Home Examination

792: Immigration Law

Doyle — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:47:52 +0000

Immigration and nationality law is an introductory course that will provide a survey of immigration, citizenship, and visa law and procedures. Topics covered will include immigration and the Constitution, admissions categories (including non-immigrant and immigrant visa categories), family-based immigration, admissions procedures, removability and relief from removability, asylum and refugee law, naturalization and derivative citizenship, workplace enforcement of immigration laws, and relationships between criminal law and immigration law.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: Final paper