Public Interest/Civil Rights/Civil Liberties

This course combines theoretical understandings of relevant legal principles in animal law, with technical skills necessary to understand and develop impact litigation. The semester will begin with an introductory overview of moral philosophy and history of animal law in the United States. Building from this foundation, we will examine laws impacting animals in varying contexts, including laboratories, exhibition, and food production.

Among other things, the success of Indian gaming and the controversy surrounding the adoption of Indian children have brought new attention to the unique status of Indians and Indian tribes in the American legal system. This course examines the tension between tribal sovereignty and the and the traditional legal and political notions underlying the American federal system.

This course focuses upon an analysis of the legal and administrative aspects of the regulation of land use and development. The problems and techniques of urban planning, housing legislation, zoning, subdivision controls, public acquisition of land, tax controls, and urban redevelopment are discussed.

This course focuses on the impact of new information technologies and services on personal privacy. It will examine a range of information privacy issues, particularly those involved in the use of the Internet and online services. Topics will include the right of access to information, the free flow and use of information, the creation and protection of an individual's "digital persona," and the role of governments and the private sector in safeguarding personal information.

This course surveys the development of the modern law of workplace governance. The focus is on private sector employment. Topics covered include the at-will doctrine, the rise and decline of collective bargaining, minimum wages and benefits regulation, status discrimination, wrongful termination, workplace privacy, and worker-management participation programs.

This course provides a study of the institution of judicial review, the limitations on federal judicial power and the constitutional roles of the legislative and executive branches. Due process and individual rights under the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are also reviewed.

Employment Discrimination Law studies the history, doctrine, and practice of law outlawing discrimination in the workplace based on race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, and membership in other protected classifications. Although the course focuses on California's Fair Employment and Housing Act, together with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it also covers the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1991, and other federal and state anti-discrimination statutes.

Students who have successfully completed the Immigration Rights Clinic can continue to hone their lawyering skills through direct representation of children and adults in Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and U Visa cases. Students will not participate in the Immigration Law Clinic classroom component. The course may be taken for 1 to 3 units upon approval from the Director of the Immigration Law Clinic. Prerequisite: Immigration Law Clinic (680IM).

The Immigration Appeals Practicum (IAP) is a one semester course offered in the Fall and Spring semesters. The IAP is 3 units and graded credit/no credit. Students will conduct substantial legal research and draft the initial brief. Students will work with their supervising attorney to discuss research results and outline and content of the brief. This will involve a weekly in-person meeting at MTO offices and as needed conferences by telephone or in-person. The MTO supervisor will work with the student to refine and perfect the brief, and ultimately, file the brief with the BIA.

This practicum course will provide students the opportunity to work one-on-one with a faculty supervisor on a pro bono amicus brief. Students enrolled in this course will be assigned a case and a faculty supervisor. Case selection will be based on a variety of considerations, including legal significance, social significance, inquiry by an interested party (including students), jurisdiction, service to the profession, as well as faculty interest and expertise.