The United States is a very law-driven society, with many of the most important issues and disputes of the day ending up in the courts -- and in the newspapers. This course is designed to help public service students understand key aspects of the U.S. legal system.
Part I of the course (roughly two-thirds) examines the overall legal framework governing how federal, state and local regulatory agencies make public policy, whether it is the lead-in-drinking-water rules issued by the federal Environmental Protection Agency or the safe biking rules issued by the New York City Department of Transportation. Economics and management are essential for sound policy design and implementation, but if there is no legal authorization for a policy, or if the policy would be inconsistent with existing law, or if it was enacted in a procedurally defective way, it is not valid and cannot be enforced – at least not without a change in the law. This part of the course covers topics that range from the basic legal requirements for valid policymaking to the constitutional rules about the operation of different agencies, the balance of power between agencies and courts in interpreting regulatory statutes, and the rules around overlapping and sometimes conflicting federal, state and local regulatory regimes. Part I also covers the topic of private “tort” and “class action” lawsuits, which have played a central role in the regulation of harmful activities alongside government agencies.
Part II of the course (roughly one-third) promotes general legal literacy by examining a broad array of headline-worthy lawsuits in the media and the important legal issues underlying them. For example, towards the end of the Obama administration, the Supreme Court, in a closely divided vote, ruled that ObamaCare insurance subsidies apply to federal as well as state insurance plans. But how did the lawsuit get to the Supreme Court, why was the vote so close, and what lessons can be learned from the lawsuit for healthcare policymakers? As another example, the New York City Council is suing the Mayor over the enforcement of new expanded housing voucher rules enacted by the City Council (after overriding a mayoral veto) and one of the Mayor’s defenses is that the city rules violate New York State law. But what state law exactly and why does New York City need to comply with state law? Each class in Part II of the course covers a handful of such lawsuits and legal issues from different areas, and will largely be hand-picked by the students.