Curriculum
NOTE: Since curricular requirements are reviewed and
updated each academic year, you are required to complete the requirements
that were in force in the year in which you affiliated. The following
requirements apply to students who will affiliate with the Center in the
spring of 2012. For students who affiliated in the spring of 2011 or
earlier, please click
here to review your
requirements.
JAC CURRICULAR
REQUIREMENTS (Spring 2012 Affiliates)
To download a PDF of
the following requirements, please click
here.
The Justice Action Center curriculum is designed to
develop an interest in lawyering for justice, a sense of shared experience
among JAC faculty and students, an awareness of problems faced by lawyers
involved with social justice issues, and the ability to think critically
about them. The JAC curriculum has three components: two required courses,
a concentration in a particular area of social justice law, and a social
justice placement. To complete the JAC affiliation successfully, students
are required to:
- Complete a JAC gateway
course;
- Satisfy the concentration
requirements in a particular area of social justice law;
- Complete a social justice placement; and
- Fulfill the JAC capstone requirement in the final
year of enrollment.
These requirements are described
below.
I. JUSTICE
ACTION CENTER GATEWAY
COURSE
All JAC students must satisfy
the JAC “gateway” course requirement. The gateway course is
designed to develop a sense of shared experience among JAC faculty and
students, an awareness of problems faced by lawyers involved with social
justice issues, and the ability to think critically about them. Day
division students satisfy the requirement by enrolling in the Justice
Action Center Colloquium in the fall of their second year. Evening
division students satisfy it by enrolling in the Colloquium or in Law,
Public Policy, and Social Change in any semester before they graduate.
Justice
Action Center Colloquium: Legal Practice for Social Change (2
credits)
The JAC Colloquium is a required, graded,
two-credit seminar exclusively for JAC affiliates and taught by JAC
faculty. All day division students must take the Colloquium in the fall
semester of their second year. Evening division students may take the
Colloquium at any time before they graduate. Through case studies
including school segregation, Hurricane Katrina, the school-to-prison
pipeline, and the war on drugs, Colloquium students learn about the
potential of law to effectuate social change. We will consider different
approaches to social change through law, including class action
litigation, individual client representation in criminal and civil
contexts, legislative advocacy, and community organizing. We will consider
critiques of these models and alternative approaches, and study
organizations involved in social change through law.
Law, Public Policy, and Social Change (2
credits)
This course is open to all JAC students.
Evening division students may take this course to satisfy the JAC gateway
course requirement. This course will challenge students to consider the
various roles that lawyers play in movements for social change and the
political nature of litigation, judicial decisions, and social change.
Students will study past and present examples of lawyers working to
advance public policy, including the work conducted by lawyers to end
legal segregation of the public schools, organize the Montgomery bus
boycott, build the post–September 11, 2001 civil liberties movement,
and organize the growing movement to reform education and public safety
policies that contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline.
II.
CONCENTRATIONS
Each JAC student will
complete a concentration of four courses in a particular area of social
justice law. Each concentration contains a list of courses students can
select to satisfy the four-course requirement. Most of the concentrations
divide these courses into one or more courses the student must take to
satisfy the concentration (required courses) and other courses that
satisfy the four-course minimum but are not required (related courses).
Other concentrations simply list courses that would satisfy the
four-course requirement without dividing the list into required and
related courses. Required courses are introductory courses in the field.
Related courses generally cover advanced subjects in the field or other
relevant subjects or skills. Not every course listed in a concentration is
offered every year, so students should consult with faculty about course
selection. Students may also design their own concentration in
consultation with and with approval from the Director. Project-based
learning courses may also satisfy a concentration course requirement with
approval of the Director.
There are also several courses that are
relevant to any student interested in social justice law. We recommend
that you take one or more of these courses, although you may not
necessarily be required to take them or use them to satisfy part of your
concentration. The strongly recommended courses are Administrative Law,
Civil Rights Law, Remedies, and Statutory Interpretation.
Listed
below are the Center’s twelve pre-approved concentrations. These
concentrations can also be tailored to fit a student’s particular
interests or to reflect new or modified course offerings. Students must
take a total of four courses in a concentration—including the
required courses—to complete the concentration course requirements.
Not every course listed in a concentration is offered every year, so
students should consult with faculty about course selection. Please click
on a concentration for a complete list of course requirements:
Anti-Discrimination Law
Required Courses
At least
TWO of the following courses:
- Employment
Discrimination Law
- Racial Discrimination and American Law
- Sexuality and the Law
Related
Courses
- Americans with Disabilities Act: Law,
Policy, and Practice
- Civil Rights Clinic
- Civil
Rights Law
- Education Law and Policy (likely not offered in
2012–2013)
- Externship Seminar and Placement (with
approved placement)
- Feminist Jurisprudence: Theory and
Application (infrequently offered)
- Gender in American Legal
History
- Immigration Law
- Liberty and Equality
- Racial Justice Litigation (project-based learning course)
- Special Education Law and Practice
- The 14th Amendment:
Construing Text and Constructing Doctrine
Civil Liberties
Required Courses
The
following course:
- Federal Courts and the Federal
System
And at least ONE of the following
courses:
- Advanced Constitutional Law: The 14th
Amendment
- The First Amendment
- The 14th
Amendment—Construing Text & Constructing Doctrine
Related Courses
- Advanced Appellate
Advocacy
- Civil Rights Law
- Constitution and
Terrorism
- Constitutional History: Supremacy and Nullification
1776–1868
- Constitutional Law: Free Speech
- Criminal Procedure: Investigation
- Detention in the War
Against Terrorism (project-based learning course)
- Education
Law and Policy (likely not offered in 2012–2013)
- Externship Seminar and Placement (with approved placement)
- Federal Regulation of Electronic Media
- The First
Amendment
- Immigration Law
- International Human
Rights Law (will not be offered in 2012–2013)
- International Human Rights and Mental Disability Law
- International Human Rights Seminar and Workshop (will not be
offered in 2012–2013)
- Law and Technology of Electronic
Government and Electronic Democracy (infrequently offered)
- Law
of Democracy
- Liberty and Equality
- Racial
Discrimination and American Law
- Racial Justice Litigation
(project-based learning course)
- Religion and the
Constitution
- Reproductive Rights Law
- Sexuality and
the Law
Criminal Law
Required
Courses
- Criminal Procedure: Adjudication
- Criminal Procedure: Investigation
Related
Courses
- Advanced Appellate Advocacy
- Advocacy of Criminal Cases
- Advocacy, Media, and the
“Big Case”
- Child Victims and the Law
- Criminal Defense Clinic
- Criminal Justice Seminar and
Workshop
- Criminal Law and Procedure: Death Penalty
- Criminal Law and Procedure: Sentencing
- Criminal Law and
Procedure: White Collar Crime
- Criminal Prosecution Clinic
- Criminal Prosecution Field Placement
- Cybercrime,
Cyberterror, and Digital Law Enforcement
- Domestic Violence and
the Law
- European Criminal Law
- Federal Criminal
Law
- Forensic Reports, the Role of the Expert and Forensic
Ethics
- Immigration Law
- International Criminal
Law
- The Investigation, Prosecution, and Defense of
Today’s Organized and White Collar Crime Cases
- Mental
Health Issues in Jails and Prisons
- Mental Disability and
Criminal Law
- Mental Illness, Dangerousness, the Police Power
and Risk Assessment
- Organized and White Collar Crime
- Professional Responsibility: Criminal Practice
- Sex
Crimes and Child Abuse
- Sex Offenders
- Sexuality and
the Law
- Trial Advocacy
Economic Justice:
Advocacy
Required Courses
At least
TWO of the following courses:
- Elder Law
- Education Law and Policy (likely not offered in
2012–2013)
- Racial Discrimination and American Law
- Special Education Law and Practice
Related Courses
- Administrative
Law
- Civil Rights Clinic
- Civil Rights Law
- Consumer Credit and Financing
- Elder Law Clinic
- Employee Benefits Law
- Externship Seminar and Placement
(with approved placement)
- Federal Courts and the Federal
System
- Financial Advocacy
- Real Estate:
Landlord-Tenant Law
- Securities Arbitration Clinic and
Seminar
- Workers Compensation Law
Economic Justice: Community
Economic Development
Required Courses
At least
TWO of the following courses:
- Affordable Housing of
Community Development
- Affordable Housing of Community
Development: Practice and Skills
- Charitable Organizations
Related Courses
- Business
Basics for Lawyers
- Business Planning for the Closely Held
Corporation
- Land Use Regulation
- Real Estate
Development
Education Law
Required
Courses
- Education Law and Policy (likely not
offered in 2012–2013)
- Special Education Law and
Practice
Related Courses
- Administrative Law
- Americans with Disabilities Act:
Law, Policy, and Practice
- Children and the Law
- Civil Rights Clinic
- Civil Rights Law
- Constitutional Law: Free Speech
- Education Law and
Practice (project-based learning course)(likely not offered in
2012–2013)
- Externship Seminar and Placement (with
approved placement)
- Juvenile Delinquency
- Racial
Discrimination and American Law
- Religion and the
Constitution
- Sex Crimes and Child Abuse
Environmental Law
Required
Courses
Both of the following courses:
- Administrative Law
- Environmental Law and Policy
(likely not offered in 2012–2013)
PLUS at
least ONE of the following courses:
- Climate Change
Law
- Climate Change Issues in Real Estate and Business
Transactions
- Environmental Issues in Business and Real Estate
Transactions
- Land Use Regulation
Related Courses
- Animal Law
- Brownfields Redevelopment
- Conservation Law and Policy
(project-based learning course)
- Energy Laws and
Regulations
- Externship Seminar and Placement (with approved
placement)
- Independent Study: Paper (with approved topic)
- New York City Land Use
- Preservation Law
- Real
Estate Development
- Remedies (likely not offered in
2012–2013)
- State and Local Government
- Law of
Sustainable Development
Family Law
Required
Courses
The following course:
PLUS at least TWO of the following
courses:
- Anatomy of a New York State Divorce
Action
- Children and the Law
- Divorce: Lawyers,
Clients, and Families
- Domestic Violence Litigation Field
Placement
- Elder Law Clinic
- Family Practice Seminar
and Workshop
Related Courses
- Accounting for Lawyers: Basic Concepts
- Alternative
Dispute Resolution
- Child Victims and the Law
- Custody Evaluations, Juvenile and Family Law, and Mental Disability
Law
- Domestic Violence and the Law
- Drafting (with
approved topic)
- Education Law and Policy (likely not offered
in 2012–2013)
- Elder Law
- Estate Planning
- Externship Seminar and Placement (with approved placement)
- Family Court
- Family Formation: Adoption and
Reproduction
- Federal Income Tax: Individual
- The
Guardianship Project (project-based learning course)
- Juvenile
Delinquency
- Mediation Clinic
- Memorandum and Brief
Writing
- Negotiation, Counseling, and Interviewing
- Sex Crimes and Child Abuse
- Sexuality and the Law
- Special Education Law and Practice
- Wills, Trusts, and
Future Interests
Immigration Law
Required
Courses
The following course:
PLUS at least ONE of the
following courses:
- Externship Seminar and Placement
(with approved placement)
- Immigration Practice Seminar and
Workshop
- Refugee and Asylum Law
Related Courses
- Administrative
Law
- Civil Rights Law
- Education Law and Policy
(likely not offered in 2012–2013)
- Employment Law
- Employment Discrimination Law
- Federal Courts and the
Federal System
- Federal Criminal Law
- Government
Immigration Litigation Seminar and Workshop
- Immigration Law
and Litigation (project-based learning course)
- Immigration and
Refugee Rights Field Placement
- Independent Study: Paper (with
approved topic)
- International Criminal Law
- International Human Rights Law (will not be offered in
2012–2013)
- International Human Rights Seminar and
Workshop (will not be offered in 2012–2013)
International Human Rights
Law
Required Courses
At least
ONE of these two courses:
- International Human
Rights Law (will not be offered in 2012–2013)
- International Human Rights Seminar and Workshop (will not be
offered in 2012–2013)
PLUS the following
course:
Related Courses
- The Creation of a
Disability Rights Tribunal for Asia and the Pacific (project-based
learning course) (will not be offered in 2012–2013)
- Externship Seminar and Placement (with approved placement)
- Global Law and Justice Colloquium
- Immigration Law
- Immigration Practice Seminar and Workshop
- International
Criminal Law
- International Human Rights and Mental Disability
Law
- International Intellectual Property (will not be offered
in 2012–2013)
- International Law in Contemporary
Perspectives
- International Law: Selected Topics (with prior
approval)(infrequently offered)
- Legal Research: Foreign and
International
- Transnational Law: Legal Order in an Age of
Globalization
- United Nations and World Order
Labor and Employment Law
Required Courses
- Employment Discrimination Law
- Employment Law
- Labor Relations Law
Related
Courses
- Administrative Law
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Civil Rights Clinic
- Collective Bargaining and Labor Dispute Resolution
- Corporations
- Employee Benefits Law
- Employment Law and Executive Compensation Issues in the Financial
Services Industry
- Employment Law Seminar and Workshop
- Externship Seminar and Placement (with approved placement)
- Immigration Law
- Immigration Practice Seminar and
Workshop
- Mediation Clinic
- Negotiating, Counseling,
and Interviewing
- Sexuality and the Law
- Sports
Law
Mental Disability Law
Required Courses
The
following course:
- Survey of Mental Disability
Law
PLUS at least ONE of the following two
courses:
- Advocacy Skills in Cases Involving Persons
with Mental Disabilities: The Role of Lawyers and Expert Witnesses
- Therapeutic Jurisprudence
PLUS at least TWO
of the following courses (which can include one of the three required
courses):
- Americans with Disabilities Act: Law,
Policy, and Practice
- The Creation of a Disability Rights
Tribunal for Asia and the Pacific (project-based learning course) (will
not be offered in 2012–2013)
- Custody Evaluations,
Juvenile and Family Law, and Mental Disabilitiy Law
- Forensic
Reports, the Role of the Experts, and Forensic Ethics
- International Human Rights Law and Mental Disability Law
- Mental Disability and Criminal Law
- Mental Health Issues
in Jails and Prisons
- Mental Illness, Dangerousness, the Police
Power, and Risk Assessment
- Race, Gender, Class, and Mental
Disability
- Sex Offenders
- Trauma and Mental
Disability
Related Courses
- Criminal Procedure: Adjudication
- Elder Law Clinic
- Externship Seminar and Placement (with approved placement)
- Modern Civil Litigation: Problems and Tactics
- Special
Education Law and Practice
Social Change Advocacy
Required Course
The
following course:
PLUS at least ONE of the following substantive law
courses:
- Advanced Constitutional Law: The 14th
Amendment
- Americans with Disabilities Act: Law, Policy, and
Practice
- Animal Law
- Constitution and
Terrorism
- Constitutional Law: Free Speech
- Detention in the War Against Terrorism
- Education Law
and Policy (likely not offered in 2012–2103)
- Employment
Discrimination Law
- Environmental Law and Policy
- The First Amendment
- The 14th Amendment—Construing
Text & Constructing Doctrine
- Immigration Law
- Labor Relations Law
- Law of Democracy
- Law,
Public Policy, and Social Change
- Liberty and Equality
- Mass Torts
- Racial Discrimination and American Law
- Racial Justice Litigation (project-based learning course)
- Religion and the Constitution
- Reproductive Rights
Law
- Sexuality and the Law
- Special Education Law
and Practice
- Survey of Mental Disability Law
PLUS at least ONE of the following skills/experiential
courses:
- Advanced Appellate Advocacy
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Art of the Fact
- Civil Justice Through the Courts (project-based learning
course)
- Civil Rights Clinic
- Deposition Skills
- Dispute Resolution Team (only for a semester in which student
received academic credit) (can count for no more than one course toward
the concentration)
- Domestic Arbitration
- Domestic
Violence Litigation Field Placement
- Drafting: Legislation
- Drafting: Litigation Documents
- Electronic Discovery
- Elder Law Clinic
- Federal Civil Litigation: Discovery
Process (infrequently offered)
- Judicial Externship
- Mediation Clinic
- Memorandum and Brief Writing
- Modern Civil Litigation: Problems and Tactics
- Moot
Court Association (only for a semester in which student received academic
credit) (can count for no more than one course toward the
concentration)
- Negotiating, Counseling, and Interviewing
- NYLS Dispute Resolution Team (only for a semester in which student
received academic credit) (can count for no more than one course toward
the concentration)
- Persuasion
- Racial Justice
Litigation (project-based learning course)
- Statistical
Literacy
- Statutory Interpretation
- Trial
Advocacy
- Visual Persuasion and the Law
Related Courses
- Administrative
Law
- Federal Courts and the Federal System
- Feminist
Jurisprudence: Theory and Application
- Gender in American Legal
History
- Modern Supreme Court
- Remedies
III.
SOCIAL JUSTICE
PLACEMENTS
JAC students are required to
complete a social justice placement related to their concentration. JAC
students can complete the social justice placement requirement through a
job, an externship, a clinical course, or a workshop course after the
first year of law studies. During the semester or summer in which a
student is completing the social justice requirement, the student will
meet three times with a JAC faculty member to discuss the placement and
the student’s experience. In many instances, if a student satisfies
the placement requirement through a course, that course will also count
toward a concentration course requirement. Placements must be pre-approved
by the director or associate director.
Current students may download the requisite forms by
clicking the links below:
IV. JUSTICE ACTION
CENTER CAPSTONE
EXPERIENCE
All JAC students must
complete a capstone experience in their final year of enrollment. There
are four options for completing the capstone: the JAC Capstone Project
course; a project-based learning course approved by the Director; a clinic
or field placement course approved by the Director; or participating in the
JAC Law Review Note Symposium. (Students cannot satisfy their
social justice placement and capstone experience requirements through the
same course.) Students satisfying the capstone will make a presentation of
their project to members of the JAC community at the end of the school
year, either as part of the particular course in which they are enrolled
or through separately scheduled presentations.
Justice Action
Center Capstone Project (2 credits)
The JAC Capstone
Project is a two-credit course exclusively for JAC affiliates. The
Capstone is a year-long project. Students in the course work under the
supervision of a JAC faculty member on projects including, for example, an
analysis of empirical data, a policy paper, model legislation, regulatory
comments, a practice manual, an amicus brief, or a project developing out
of a clinical course experience.
Project-Based Learning
Courses
Project-based learning (PBL) courses are
small-group classes. Students in PBL courses work on a particular project.
The following PBL courses satisfy the capstone requirement:
Administration for Children's Services
Civil Justice
Through the Courts
Community-Based Initiatives: Family Law Reforms
The Creation of a Disability Rights Tribunal for Asia and the Pacific
Conservation Law and Policy
Detention in the War Against
Terrorism
Education Law and Practice
The Guardianship
Project
Immigration Law and Litigation
Racial Justice
Litigation
Click here
to view the capstone syllabus for students fulfilling the capstone
requirement through a project-based learning course.
Clinics and Field Placements
Students
can also satisfy the capstone requirement by enrolling in an approved
clinic or field placement course. Students satisfying the capstone through
a clinic or field placement will also submit a five-page narrative
description of their experience, including a portfolio of their work. The
following clinics and field placements satisfy the JAC capstone
requirement:
Civil Rights Clinic
Criminal
Defense Clinic
Criminal Prosecution Clinic
Domestic Violence
Litigation Field Placement
Elder Law Clinic
Immigration and
Refugee Rights Field Placement
Mediation Clinic
To
view the capstone syllabus corresponding to clinics and field placements,
click
here.
Law Review Note Symposium
Day and evening division students completing a Law Review note
in their final year of study (the third year for day division students and
the fourth year for evening division students) can satisfy the capstone
requirement by writing their notes and planning a symposium at which all
Law Review students who elect this option will present their
notes to a general audience. Students will plan the symposium, including
developing the program, preparing an invitation list, designing the
invitation, and soliciting guests. Students will also draft and seek to
publish in an appropriate venue a short (500–750 word) opinion piece
relating to their notes.
To view the capstone syllabus for students
using a Law Review note to complete the capstone requirement, click
here.