Cape Breton University
Fall 2016
Political Science 2144: 3cr.
Famous Trials: The Development of Justice
Dr. David Johnson
CC-243
563-1213
Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday: 1-2pm,
Tuesday: 1- 4:00pm.
Course Overview: This course is designed to provide students with an opportunity to critically assess the theory and practice of the rule of law in society through a historical and contemporary analysis of certain trials which have been integral to our understanding of justice. The course will be multi-disciplinary in orientation borrowing from the perspectives of political science, law, sociology, history and philosophy in developing an overarching political framework devoted to the study of the organization and application of power in society. The course will address the legal theory of adjudication as well as the historical evolution of the rule of law within western society. Attention will be directed to concepts of due process, the duties of the prosecutorial and defence bars, and the role and institutional requirements of an independent judiciary; above all, though, attention will be devoted to the concepts of justice, rights and duties, and the struggle to achieve freedom and order in society. The heart of the course, then, will consist of a close review of those great trials which have shaped the way we think about justice and which have challenged our understandings of what rights and duties mean and how they are to be made reality in society.
Course Text: There will be no given text for this course. Rather, selected readings ranging from historical and philosophic literature, through analytical political science and legal writing, to decisions of courts and legal jurisprudence on key trials will be made available to students via two web sites: Famous Trials, by Douglas O. Linder (2012) at http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/ftrials.htm (henceforth referred to as the Linder web site), and
Famous Trials in World History Links, Constitutional Rights Foundation, at:
http://www.crf-usa.org/research-links/famous-trials.html (henceforth referred to as the CRF web site). A variety of other materials, including materials dealing with Canadian cases will be made available to students via the Short-Term Reserve Desk at the CBU Library.
Course Requirements:
Seminar Participation 20%
Mid-Term Test 15%
Investigative Research Paper 30%
Paper Outline 5%
Final Examination 30%
Guidelines for Assignments:
The instructor will hand out basic guidelines and expectations for your assignments in class. Consult a style manual for the appropriate referencing of sources. MLA and APA style manuals can be found online at http://webster.commnet.edu/mla/index.shtml.
Do not use “Wikipedia” or similar online dictionaries as a source for your assignment work.
Plagiarism:
When writing your assignments, make sure to properly acknowledge material (books, articles, reports, etc…) taken from another person’s work. CBU sees plagiarism as a serious violation of academic rules. Please read carefully the notes on plagiarism in the current CBU academic calendar, before submitting assignments. Plagiarism involves giving no recognition to an author for sentences or arguments taken from their work and used in your essays or reports. It is also a form of plagiarism to submit work that has already been submitted in another course even if it is your work. If you are unsure as to what constitutes plagiarism, please speak to me.
6
Schedule of Lectures:
Week 1
Introduction: Courts, Trials and Justice; Or, What Would You Have Done with (or to) Osama? Al Qaeda? ISIS? Omar Khadr?
Reading: - TBA
Week 2
Justice, Law, Right and Power: The Multiple Purposes of Courts and Trials.
Reading: Shapiro, Courts: A Comparative and Political Analysis,
ch. 1.. Material available on Short-Term Reserve, CBU Library.
Week 3
Show Trials: "Judicial" Travesties: "The Trial of Christ", "The Trial of Joan of Arc", "The Trial of Galileo".
Reading: Linder web site, CRF web site, see materials on the trials of Christ, Joan of Arc, and Galileo. See also: The Holy Bible, Mathew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 18:19 -19:18, George Bernard Shaw, Saint Joan, Scene VI, James Reston, Jr., Galileo: A Life, ch. 13. (Latter two on Short-Term Reserve, CBU Library).
Week 4
Trials and the Development of the Rule of Law: Justice as Due Process. "The Walter Raleigh Trial", 1603, "The John Lilburne Trial", 1649
Reading: Linder web site, CRF web site, see materials on the trails of Raleigh and Lilburne. See also Alfred H. Knight, The Life of the Law, ch. 6, "The Right to Confront Accusers", ch. 9, "The Privilege against Self-Incrimination", (materials by Knight on Short-Term Reserve, CBU Library).
Week 5
Trials and the Miscarriage of Justice: The Conviction of the Innocent. What went Wrong? "The Donald Marshall Trial".
Reading: The Marshall Royal Commission Inquiry. Final Report, Michael Harris, Justice Denied: The Law versus Donald Marshall, ch. 11. (Materials on Short-Term Reserve, CBU Library).
6
Week 6
Trials and the Attainment of Justice: The Conviction of the Guilty. Rehabilitation or Punishment? What Should Society Think? "The McDonald's Trials", "The Bernardo Trial".
Reading: Phonse Jessome, Murder at McDonalds: The Killers Next Door, ch. 13, Nick Pron, Lethal Marriage: The Unspeakable Crimes of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka, chs. 40-42. (Materials on Short-Term Reserve, CBU Library).
**Term Test**
Week 7
Trials and the Problematics of Justice: The Argument of Extenuating Circumstances. "The Robert Latimer Trial", "The Jamie Bulger Trial"
Reading: MacLean's Magazine, "Should Robert Latimer Go Free?", November 17, 1997, George Jonas, The Scales of Justice, Vol 11, "I'm Not Living Like This Anymore", Mark Thomas, Every Mother's Nightmare: The Killing of James Bulger, ch. 13. (Materials on Short-Term Reserve, CBU Library).
Week 8
Trials and the Problematics of Justice: The Trial that Never Was; Rehtaeh Parsons, sexual assault, age of consent, and cyber bullying.
Reading: Just Google “Rehtaeh Parsons”…and look for reputable news sources such as the CBC, CTV, and major newspapers.
Week 9
Trials and Military Justice: Law at War. "The Breaker Morant Trial", "The Calley-My Lai Trial".
Reading: Linder web site, materials on the Calley Trial. See also F.M. Cutlack, Breaker Morant: A Horseman who made History, Michael Bilton, Kevin Sim, Four Hours at My Lai, ch. 11. (materials on Short-Term Reserve, CBU Library).
Week 10
Trials and Military Justice: International Human Rights. "The Nuremberg Trial"”
Reading: Linder web site, CRF web site, materials on the Nuremberg trial. See also Robert E. Conot, Justice at Nuremberg, Part 5. (material on Short-Term Reserve, CBU Library).
6
Week 11
Trials and Military Justice: The Legacy of Nuremburg – Does International Law Exist?
Reading: Same as Week 10.
Week 12
Trials in Perspective: Their Social Impact
Reading: TBA
Selected Bibliography:
Allan, T.R.S., Law, Liberty and Justice: The Legal Foundations of British Constitutionalism (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993).
Bailey, F. Lee, The Defense Never Rests (New York: Signet, 1971).
Baker, John Hamilton, An Introduction to English Legal History
Bartlett, Katharine T., and Rosanne Kennedy, eds., Feminist Legal Theory: Readings in Law and Gender (Boulder: Westview Press, 1991).
Baum, Lawrence, American Courts: Process and Policy (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986).
Beattie, J.M., Crime and the Courts in England, 1660-1800 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986.)
Beck, J. Murray, Joseph Howe: Voice of Nova Scotia (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1964).
Bedford, Sybille, The Faces of Justice (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1961).
Behn, Noel, Lindbergh: The Crime (New York: Onyx Books, 1995).
Bilton, Michael, and Kevin Sim, Four Hours in My Lai (New York: Penguin, 1992).
Birch, Anthony, The Concepts and Theories of Modern Democracy (London: Routledge, 1993).
Boyd, Neil, Canadian Law: An Introduction (Toronto: Harcourt Brace, 1995).
6
Chisholm, Joseph A., ed., The Speeches and Public Letters of Joseph Howe, vol 1 (Halifax: Chronicle Publishing Co., 1909).
Conot, Robert E., Justice at Nuremberg (New York: Carol and Graf, 1983).
Cotterrell, Roger, The Politics of Jurisprudence: A Critical Introduction to Legal Philosophy (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1989).
Curzon, L.B. English Legal History
Cutlack, F.M., Breaker Morant: A Horseman who made History (Sydney: Ure Smith, 1962).
Darden, Christopher A. In Contempt (New York: ReganBooks, 1996).
Dershowitz, Allen M. Reasonable Doubts: The O.J. Simpson Case and the Criminal Justice System (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996).
Dicey, A.V., The Law of the Constitution, 9th ed., E.C.S. Wade, ed. (London: Macmillan and Co., 1956).
Esberey, Joy, and Larry Johnston, Democracy and the State: An Introduction to Politics (Toronto: Broadview Press, 1994).
Gall, Gerald, The Canadian Legal System, 3rd. ed. (Toronto: Carswell, 1990).
Glick, Henry R., Courts, Politics and Justice, 2nd. ed. (New York: McGraw Hill, 1988).
Goldman, Sheldon, Constitutional Law: Cases and Essays, 2nd. ed. (New York: Harper Collins, 1991).
Harr, Jonathan, A Civil Action (New York: Vintage Books, 1995)
Harris, Michael, Justice Denied: The Law versus Donald Marshall (Toronto: Totem, 1986).
Hogg, Peter, Constitutional Law of Canada, 3rd. ed. (Toronto: Carswell, 1992).
Ingman, Terence, The English Legal Process 4th ed., (London: Blackstone Press, 1994).
Jonas, George, The Scales of Justice (Toronto: Lester, Orpen Dennys, 1986).
Knight, Alfred H. The Life of the Law (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1996).
Lewis, David L. Prisoners of Honor: The Dreyfus Affair (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1994).
6
Lovell, Colin Rhys, English Constitutional and Legal History (New York: Oxford University Press, 1962).
Odell, Robin, Landmarks in 20th Century Murder (London: Headline, 1995).
Parker, Graham, An Introduction to Criminal Law (Toronto: Methuen, 1977).
Pron, Nick, Lethal Marriage: The Unspeakable Crimes of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka (Toronto: Seal Books, 1995).
Reston, James Jr., Galileo: A Life (New York: Harper Collins, 1994).
Russell, Peter, Federalism and the Charter: Leading Constitutional Decisions (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1989).
Shapiro, Martin, Courts: A Comparative and Political Analysis (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981).
Shaw, Bernard, Saint Joan.
Shively, W. Phillips, Power and Choice: An Introduction to Political Science, 2nd. ed. (New York: McGraw Hill, 1991).
Thomas, Mark, Every Mother's Nightmare: The Killing of James Bulger (London: Pan Books, 1993).
Vallee, Brian, Life With Billy (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1986).
6