Pol (Political Science) 3267
"I'm Taking You To Court": Courtroom Proceedings in American State Courts (96751)
(Variable Topics in American Politics)
(SS; 4.0 cr; prereq 1201 or consent of instructor) Greg Thorson

Course Description
Understanding courtroom procedure by observation of actual courtroom activity. Students will observe a wide range of judicial proceedings, including arraignments, trials, sentencing, involuntary commitments to mental and alcohol treatment facilities, and the acceptance of negotiated settlements and/or plea-bargains. Students will observe state at both the trial and appellate level.

Course Information
The course consists of both on-campus and off-campus activities. The larger amount of time will be spent off-campus watching judicial proceedings. Most of the judicial activity we observe will be held in courtrooms in Morris, Glenwood, Benson, Alexandria, Willmar and St. Cloud.

Students have typically shared rides to and from the courtroom. Students are responsible for their own noon meals when attending courtroom activity.

On-campus activities will include viewing films and reading and discussing the assigned textbooks and other supplementary materials found on the web. We will also reflect on the various courtroom activities that we witnessed off-campus. When we are on-campus, class will be held in the morning, typically from 9:00 a.m. until noon Monday-Friday, IH 203.

This course requires that students be very flexible in their scheduling. Because lawsuits more typically settle than go to trial, the instructor will not know whether a trial will actually be held until shortly before the scheduled date and time. However, the instructor can be very flexible with a work schedule. Students can have a work commitment in the afternoon, but will need to provide their own transportation to the various courtrooms.

Grades will be determined solely by a series of reaction papers to our class experiences. For each of the class activities, students will be asked to write a short reaction paper. Each reaction paper will be of different length, but all will be five pages or less. Longer assignments will be weighted more heavily than shorter assignments. For example, in your final grade a 2-page reaction paper will count as much as a 4-page reaction paper.

Course Dates
May 19-June 6, 2008; 9:00-12:00 noon; IH 203.

Textbooks/Materials
Law and Politics in the United States. Jacob Herbert. New York: Harper Collins (1995)

Program Costs
Tuition, textbooks and additional costs for field trip transportation ($50).

Faculty Profile
Greg Thorson Associate Professor of Political Science at UMM, received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Riverside in 1995. He teaches a wide variety of courses about American political institutions, including Legislative Behavior, The Presidency, Courts, Judges and the Legal System, and Constitutional Law. He also teaches research methods. Professor Thorson's primary research is devoted to the study of Congress. His current work focuses on the effect that divided government has on coalition building in the U.S. Congress.

Contact Information
Office: 145C Social Science
Phone: (320) 589-6208
E-Mail: gthorson@morris.umn.edu