The Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics, and the Media at Syracuse University

The Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics,
and the Media at Syracuse University


	Certificate Program

	The College of Law will award the Law, Politics, and the Media Certificate to recognize students who have taken a concentration in courses relating to the study of how judicial institutions, public policy-making, and media coverage affect and are affected by one another. The certificate program is designed to promote the holistic study of the complex interactions between the courts, the media, and the political process. Our goal is to better prepare students for roles as advocates, policy-makers, judges, judicial administrators and information officers, and legal analysts in an age of increasing public concern about the independence of the judiciary, judicial selection, responsible media coverage of the courts, and the interdependence of these and related issues. OBTAINING THE CERTIFICATE: Interested students will qualify for the certificate by successfully completing a required core course (Law, Politics, and the Media - 3 credit hours), four elective courses spread across IJPM’s three base disciplines (12 credit hours), and a significant interdisciplinary research project. Additionally, the interdisciplinary research project can satisfy the upper level writing requirement. Any student who has met all certificate requirements and is in good standing will be awarded the certificate. A Proposed Program of Study should be submitted to IJPM preferably by the end of the spring semester of the first year. Students whose Proposed Program of Study has been approved must submit a Completed Program of Study to the Director of IJPM by March 1st of their third year for review and approval in order to obtain recognition for having completed the certificate requirements. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS: In addition to successfully completing the Law, Politics, and the Media course, each certificate candidate will be required to propose and complete an interdisciplinary research project (to be approved in advance by the IJPM Director), to take two elective courses in the elective course category (see below for the lists of certificate-eligible elective courses in Law, Maxwell, and Newhouse, respectively) of his/her “home school”, and to take one elective course in each of the elective course categories of the other two schools (for a total of four elective courses). For example, to earn the certificate, a law student would be required to successfully complete the Law, Politics, and the Media course, an approved interdisciplinary research project, two of the “Law Electives,” one “Political Science/Public Administration/History Electives”, and one “Media/Communications Elective.” Students considering their selection of course electives should note that it is possible to receive elective credit for taking courses that are not on the below list of certificate-eligible electives but that are directly relevant to a student's interdisciplinary research project. The substitution of non-listed elective courses in the place of listed elective courses requires advance petition to and approval by the IJPM Director. REQUIRED COURSE: Law, Politics, and the Media (LAW 839/NEW 500/PSC 700) The certificate's core requirement will be the cross-disciplinary Law, Politics, and the Media course. The course, taught by a team of faculty instructors from the College of Law, Maxwell, and Newhouse, features a series of guest lecturers — including judges, legislators, interest group representatives, court administrators, and journalists — whose real-world perspectives complement the academic study of how media, politics, and the judiciary affect one another. ELECTIVE COURSES: LAW ELECTIVES Administrative Law (LAW 702) Advanced Constitutional Law (LAW 713) Federal Courts (LAW 721) Federal Criminal Law (LAW 735) Communications Law (LAW 738) Jurisprudence of Human Rights (LAW 782) OR Contemporary American Legal Thought (LAW 847) Constitutional Criminal Procedure - Adjudicative (LAW 796) Civil Rights: Power, Privilege, and the Law (LAW 758) POLITICAL SCIENCE/PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION/HISTORY ELECTIVES American Constitutional Development (PSC 711) Judicial Politics (PSC 715) Foundations of American Political Thought (PSC/SOS 716 HST 682) American Legal History: Modern Public Law (HST/LAW 738) Race and Law (HST 689/LAW 880) Public Administration and Law (PPA 742) MEDIA/COMMUNICATIONS ELECTIVES Economics, Persuasion, and the Global Marketplace (ADV 345/645) Research Methods (COM 605) Media and Diversity (COM 646) Origins of Contemporary Media Issues (COM 688) Media Law (COM 698) Communications Theory (COM 755) Theories of Media Content (COM 788) Historical Narratives and Interpretation (DFH 695/HST 695) Principles of Journalism (NEW 608) Introduction to Public Diplomacy and Communications (PRL 602) Organizational Public Relations (PRL 605) Critical and Historical Perspectives on Broadcast Journalism (RTN 636) Children and Television (TRF 434/634) Communications Industry Frontiers (TRF 483/683) Topics in International Perspectives (TRF 560) Film Business (TRF 592) Radio Business (TRF 593) Television Business (TRF 594) Telecommunications Law & Policy (TRF 637) Social Effects of Television (TRF 698)

What's Happening at IJPM?

IJPM Executive Director named to SU's first Judiciary Studies Professorship

On October 30th, Professor Keith Bybee was recognized as the first Judiciary Studies Professor in the newly created Paul E. and The Hon. Joanne F. Alper ’72 Judiciary Studies Professorship at Syracuse University College of Law. The professorship was created through the leadership and financial commitment of Paul E. and the Hon. Joanne F. Alper and it will fund Bybee's scholarly work, research, and academic initiatives relating to judicial legitimacy, court independence and the intersections of law, politics, and the media. Judge Alper has been an active supporter and proponent of IJPM since it's inception.

IJPM Co-Sponsors Law and Media Conference for federal judges with the Federal Judicial Center and SU College of Law

September 24-25, IJPM, together with the Federal Judicial Center and SU College of Law, hosted a Law and Media seminar for more than forty federal judges from across the country. The judges heard from IJPM Director Keith Bybee who presented on public perceptions of judiciary. IJPM Associate Director Lisa Dolak discussed her case study on legal reporting, "Intellectual Property Law in the Media Mirror," and IJPM Senior Advisor Mark Obbie presented about the quality of legal journalism and how to improve it. The first day concluded with a conversation with the Honorable Jon Feldman, U.S. District Court, Western District of New York, and the Honorable Leonie Brinkema, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, about managing high profile trials. The second day of the conference, Professor Rakesh Anand discussed judicial ethics and maintaining faith in the rule of law and professors Paula Johnson and Janis McDonald discussed the Cold Case Justice Initiative as an example of collaborative relationship with the judiciary and the media.

IJPM Executive Director and Associate Director Participate in ABA's Academic Reading Group to Review Sotomayor's Qualifications for Supreme Court Position

Syracuse University College of Law provided one of the two academic reading groups that evaluated now Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor's written work as part of the American Bar Association's evaluation of her qualifications for the position of Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. IJPM Associate Director Lisa Dolak acted as chair of this group and IJPM Director Keith Bybee also served on this reading group. Sotomayor's qualifications were reviewed in the areas of integrity, professional competence, and judicial temperament; the criteria on which the ABA's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary (SCFJ) rates all federal judicial nominees. This marks the second time the SCFJ has tapped the College of Law to support its evaluation of a Supreme Court nominee. The first time was in 2005 for Justice Samuel Alito.

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