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The Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics,
and the Media at Syracuse University
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Law, Politics and the Media Course
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The American judicial system today operates in a complex environment of legal principle, political pressure, and media coverage. The separate elements of this complex environment are typically studied by different groups of individuals working from different perspectives. Law faculty tend to focus on legal principle; political scientists examine the influence of politics; and scholars of public communication assess the media.
The goal of this course is to introduce students to the court system and its environment as a single, integrated subject of study. To this end, the course is taught by a team of faculty instructors drawn from law, journalism, and political science. Academic discussions are complemented by lectures from sitting judges, practicing lawyers, and working journalists.
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GUEST SPEAKERS
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Bert Brandenburg
Executive Director, Justice at Stake Campaign
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2/23/09: "Judicial Elections Through the Eyes and Ears of Voters"
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Midwin Charles
Midwin Charles & Associates LLC
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3/2/09: "The Impact of Media Coverage on a Defendant's Right to a Fair Trial"
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Mary Flood
Legal Reporter, Houston Chronicle
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4/13/09: "The Important vs. the Interesting - Reporting & Blogging from Court"
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James Haggerty
The PR Consulting Group, Inc.
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4/6/09: "Litigation PR and Crisis Communication"
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Chris Nevitt
City Councilman, Denver, Colorado
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4/20/09: "Cowboys and Indians Together at Last: Labor and Business Unite to Protect Judicial Independence in Colorado"
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Harold See, Justice
Alabama Supreme Court
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1/26/09: "The Role of Judicial Elections in a Federal Republic"
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Jonathan Sherman
Boies, Schiller, & Flexner LLP
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2/2/09: "The Media in Court"
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Jo Thomas
Former NYT Reporter
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2/9/09: "Legal and Media Issues in the Nation's Largest Domestic Terrorism Trials: The Oklahoma City Bombing"
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COURSE READINGS
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The textbook for this course is:
Keith J. Bybee, ed., Bench Press: The Collision of Courts, Politics, and the Media (Stanford University Press, 2007).
There will also be a course reader with selected cases and articles in addition to online materials that will be referenced in the syllabus.
Online Materials
Selections from Caperton v. A. T. Massey Coal Company
Memorandum of Justice Scalia
Hamilton, Federalist No. 78
Brutus, Anti-Federalist XI
Webcast from “Law, Politics, and Media Lecture Series” – Video 2: Judge Joanne F. Alper
Webcast from “Jail for Journalists: Freedom of the Press, Confidential Sources, and the Demands of Criminal Justice”
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Selections:
John Kifner, Terror in Oklahoma City: The Overview, N.Y. Times, Apr. 20, 1995.
David Johnston, Terror in Oklahoma: The Investigation, N.Y. Times, Apr. 22, 1995.
Tim Weiner, Terror in Oklahoma: The Overview, N.Y. Times, Apr. 23, 1995.
Robert McFadden, Terror in Oklahoma: The Suspect, N.Y. Times, Apr. 23, 1995.
Jo Thomas and Ronald Smothers, Oklahoma City Building Was Target Of Plot as Early as '83, Official Says, N.Y. Times, May 20, 1995.
Jo Thomas, Sightings of John Doe No. 2, N.Y. Times, Dec. 3, 1995.
Jo Thomas, After 2 Years, Bombing Trial Is Set to Begin, N.Y. Times, Mar. 30, 1997.
Jo Thomas, Trial Begins in the Oklahoma City Bombing Case, N.Y. Times, Apr. 25, 1997.
Jo Thomas, At Bomb Trial, Tearful Stories of Terrible Day, N.Y. Times, Apr. 26, 1997.
Jo Thomas, McVeigh Jury Decides on Sentence of Death in Oklahoma Bombing, N.Y. Times, June 14, 1997.
Jo Thomas, Bomb Trial Focus on John Doe No. 2, N.Y. Times, Dec. 10, 1997.
Jo Thomas, The Bombing Verdict: The Conspirator, N.Y. Times, Dec. 24, 1997.
Webcast from “Law, Politics, and Media Lecture Series” – Video 3: Chief Judge Paul R. Michel
Webcast from “Supreme Makeover”
Judicial Election Results, Harris County, Texas, November 04, 2008 (pp. 5-6, 16-22)
Ohio League of Women Voters, Voter’s Guide 2008, pp. 12-15
League of Women Voters of Alabama, Alabama Appellate Courts Voter Guide 2008
Indiana Right to Life 2008 judicial candidate questionnaire
Transcript, Wisconsin State Supreme Court Candidate Forum, March 28, 2008
Webcast from “"The Media's Effect on Judicial Independence: A Kaleidoscopic View"
Ofra Bikel, “The Case for Innocence,” Frontline. (Transcript)
Fernanda Santos, “Vindicated by DNA, But a Lost Man on the Outside”
Steve Weinberg, “Innocent Until Reported Guilty,” Miller-McCune, October 2008.
“DNA Exonerations,” Dallas Morning News, October 2008 (free registration required).
Overview of Same-Sex Marrage
Constitutional Dimensions of Same-Sex Marriage
Proposition 8 analyses from The New Republic and the Volokh Conspiracy.
Jane Mayer, “The Battle for a Country's Soul,” The New York Review of Books, Aug. 14, 2008.
Philippe Sands, “The Green Light,” Vanity Fair, May 2008.
Code of Judicial Conduct
Election defeat stuns incumbent Harris Co. judges
Scalia: Foreign law isn't ours: At Houston gala, he criticizes courts that cite countries' trends for rulings
Gag order issued in Judge Kent case / Visiting judge says publicity could undermine right to fair trial
Job bias lawsuits on the increase / Rise may be due to economy and easier online access to EEOC
Webcast from Tony Mauro, "Media Representation of Judges" – Video 4
Webcast from “Law, Politics, and Media Lecture Series” – Video 1: Justice Rebecca Kourlis
Webcast of Nina Totenberg’s lecture on judicial independence – Video 1 from “Bench Press” Conference.
“Campaign Finance Reform’s War on Political Freedom” by Bradley A. Smith
“Strengthening U.S. Democracy through Campaign Finance Reform” Carnegie Review
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COURSE SYLLABUS
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» Syllabus
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COURSE ANNOUNCEMENTS
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