Syllabus for Government 318-01
T-Th, 3rd Period, Spring 2006, Room 3421N
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
The Law and Politics of Sexual Orientation
Instructor
Professor Daniel R. Pinello
Office: 3228N Telephone: 212-237-8762 Email: dpinello@jjay.cuny.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4:00 - 5:00 p.m., and by appointment
Course Description and Objectives
This course examines the law and politics affecting lesbians and gay men in the United States and investigates issues like same-sex marriage; the constitutionality of consensual-sodomy laws; sexual-orientation discrimination in public accommodations, housing, and the workplace; antigay ballot initiatives; child custody, visitation, adoption, and foster care by lesbian and gay parents and their domestic partners; health-insurance and other benefits for domestic partners; and gays in the military. Developing students’ ability to think critically and analytically and their reading and understanding court decisions are primary objectives of the semester.
Prerequisites
ENG 102, GOV 101, and Junior Standing or above.
Required Texts
The book required for the course that is available for purchase at the John Jay Bookstore is:
Rimmerman, Wald, and Wilcox, The Politics of Gay Rights
A second required book, America’s Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage, will be provided by the Instructor. All assigned court decisions are available at http://www.danpinello.com
Course Arrangements, Requirements, and Rules
In general, course grades are determined by students’ performance on examinations, quizzes, writing assignments, and the briefing of court cases. However, students should note that attendance, late arrivals, class participation, and inappropriate behavior may affect their course grades, as discussed below.
Course grades are determined as follows:
A. Three non-cumulative objective exams, each counting 15% of the course grade. The
first is given on March 2nd; the second on April 4th; and the third as the Final Exam, on May 23rd. Students may use two 5" X 8" index cards of prepared notes for reference while taking each exam and may write or print as small as they want on the four sides of the cards, as long as the notes may be read without aids like magnifying glasses.
B. Two writing assignment, written outside of class, with the first counting 10% of the
course grade and the second 20%.
C. An unspecified number of unannounced (“pop”) quizzes, collectively counting 12.5%
of the course grade. Students may not use notes while taking quizzes.
D. Case briefs, collected in class without prior notice from the Instructor, and counting
12.5% of the course grade.
Make-up objective exams are offered only for those students having legitimate and documented (that is, something the Instructor independently can verify) excuses for missing scheduled exams. However, those who miss quizzes because of absence, late arrival to class, or any other reason will receive scores of zero for the quizzes missed. Further, late case briefs are not accepted for any reason. Students without legitimate and documented excuses who miss exams, or fail to hand in briefs when collected, receive grades of zero. The Instructor is the final judge of the legitimacy of an excuse.
John Jay College subscribes to Turnitin, an online plagiarism prevention service. In addition to turning in paper copies of writing assignments and case briefs to the Instructor, students are required to submit all writing assignments and case briefs in electronic format (Word, Wordperfect, RTF, PDF, or HTML) directly to Turnitin prior to class meetings. Documents submitted to Turnitin will be included in Turnitin’s restricted access database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. Students may not submit an electronic version of documents to Turnitin in advance of the due date to “test” the documents’ originality. Students may not submit in this course original material that has been or is being used for written assignments in other courses. Information about Turnitin is available at http://www.turnitin.com.
In order to encourage student participation in class discussion, the Instructor allows up to 20% of a course grade optionally to be reflected by a student's informed, thoughtful, and consistent classroom participation. In such event, the proportion of the value of examinations, quizzes, the writing assignments, and briefs in calculating a course grade is diminished, if beneficial to the student. The Instructor allows no other form of "extra credit" in the course.
Students should not feel embarrassed to ask questions in class they may think are "stupid." If a student honestly does not know the answer, there is a very good chance many of his or her classmates are in the same position. Asking sincere questions, therefore, is an important contribution to class participation.
Attendance is taken at every scheduled meeting of the course at the very beginning of class. Moreover, three late arrivals to class (regardless of reason) equal one absence. Students may miss no more than five course meetings to receive credit for the course. More than five absences automatically results in a course grade of "WU."
In addition, attendance is important if a student is on the borderline between two grade levels when course grades are calculated. For example, suppose a student has a course average, say, of 89 after taking all examinations, where 90 is the minimum score for an "A-". If the student's attendance is high, then he or she will receive the benefit of the doubt and get the higher grade. If another student also has an 89, but with low attendance, then the second student will receive a "B+".
The Instructor reserves the right to have students who disrupt class removed involuntarily from the course, with whatever impact such removal may have upon course grades. Cross-conversations between students during class, late arrivals, and departures from the classroom before the end of the period disrupt class and are not acceptable.
Both cheating and plagiarism (using someone else's ideas or words — including information taken from the Internet — as one’s own or otherwise without proper attribution) are separate and independent grounds for failing the course. Each may lead to further College disciplinary proceedings as well (see the discussion of cheating and plagiarism in the John Jay College Undergraduate Bulletin).
Adult visitors are welcome, provided they observe course rules. However, please do not bring children to class. Doing so is unfair both to the Instructor and to the other students in the course.
Reading Assignments and Course Calendar
1/26 — Introduction and housekeeping details.
1/31 — The Politics of Gay Rights, Chapters 1 and 2.
2/2 — The Politics of Gay Rights, Chapters 3 and 4; and First Writing Assignment
distributed in class.
2/7 — The Politics of Gay Rights, Chapters 5 and 6.
2/9 — The Politics of Gay Rights, Chapters 7 and 8.
2/14 — The Politics of Gay Rights, Chapters 9 and 10.
2/16 — The Politics of Gay Rights, Chapters 11 and 12; and First Writing Assignment
due in class.
2/21 — No class meeting. Monday classes meet this day.
2/23 — The Politics of Gay Rights, Chapters 13 and 14.
2/28 — The Politics of Gay Rights, Chapters 15 and 16.
3/2 — First Objective Exam.
3/7 — America’s Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage [pages to be assigned].
3/9 — America’s Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage [pages to be assigned].
3/14 — America’s Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage [pages to be assigned].
3/16 — No class meeting. Instructor out of town this day.
3/21 — America’s Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage [pages to be assigned].
3/23 — Sexuality: Bowers v. Hardwick and State of Ohio Metroparks v. Lasher.
3/28 — Lawrence v. Texas. Second Writing Assignment distributed in class.
3/30 — Identity: National Gay Task Force v. Board of Education of the City of Oklahoma
City; Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston; and
Romer v. Evans.
4/4 — Second Objective Exam.
4/6 — Boy Scouts of America v. Dale.
4/11 — The Workplace: Florida Board of Bar Examiners Re. N.R.S.; City of Dallas v.
England; and Peterson v. Hewlett-Packard Co.
4/12 to 4/23 — No class meetings. Spring recess.
4/25 — Draft of Second Writing Assignment due in class.
4/27 — Thomasson v. Perry.
5/2 — Coupling: De Santo v. Barnsley; Rutgers Council of AAUP Chapters v. Rutgers,
the State University; and Ireland v. Davis.
5/4 — Goodridge v. Department of Public Health.
5/9 — Parenting: Thigpen v. Carpenter; Stroman v. Williams; and Nancy S. v. Michele G.
5/11 — E.N.O. v. L.M.M. and Matter of Jacob.
5/16 — Final Version of Second Writing Assignment due in class.
5/23, 10:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. — Final Exam.