Week Eight – Brown vs Board of Education
What is “interest convergence”?
Name and explain three criticisms of the strategy that resulted in the Brown vs Board court decision.
Explain why you agree or disagree with one of these criticisms.
What is “the property interest in whiteness”?
What is racial literacy and how does it differ from racial liberalism?
Week Nine – Up the Creek: Fishing for a New Constitutional Order
Annotation Exercise
Number the first eight paragraphs. A paragraph starts with an indentation. Please don’t count the passages that she cites (paragraphs that are inset from the main text) as new paragraphs. The following questions refer to the numbered paragraphs.
What is the key concept in the first paragraph?
What is the main debate examined in this paper?
Are these disputes about rights or sovereignty (according to Ladner)?
Why is it important to distinguish between ownership of fish and the right to regulate fish?
What is the Mi’kmaq view of the dispute?
Fishing is the means. What is the end?
What is the geographical anchor of the Canadian constitution? Why does she make this point?
The Magna Carta established a public right to fishing. Is that a good or bad thing for Ladner? Why?
Turn to page 936. The Mi’Khaw Constitutional Order. Paraphrase the main idea of the first paragraph in this section.
What is one thing you learned about the Mi’Khaw worldview and constitutional order?
Week Ten – The Harm of Hate Speech
Waldron argues that there are two important things that are threatened when hate speech is unregulated. What are these?
Waldron briefly mentions a few of the arguments made by opponents of free speech. What are these?
What is the difference between hate speech and hate crimes?
What is the group libel? How can you use the concept of group libel to build the argument in favour of regulating hate speech?
How should we address speech that harms dignity without inciting hatred? Is there a slippery slope?
Week 11 – “The Interview” by Douglas Starr
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/12/09/the-interview-7
Why does Kassin think that the Reid technique is inherently coercive?
Name one piece of evidence that proves it is easy to provoke false confessions? What
do you think of that evidence?
What do we know about the significance of non-verbal cues in determining if a statement is true?
What is the PEACE technique? How does it differ from previous practices?
Imagine that a study finds that the PEACE technique leads to fewer false confessions but fewer convictions overall. Which one should be used?
Week 12: Questions on Waldron’s “Homelessness and the Issue of Freedom”
How does Waldron define collective and common property?
What is the libertarian proposal and why does Waldron think it is wrong?
What does Waldron mean when he writes, “The homeless have freedom only to the extent that our society is communist.”
What is negative freedom?
In his work on hate speech, Waldron emphasizes dignity. How does that concept apply in this essay?
What are the practical or legal implications of this argument? Does it help you reach a judgement about whether you support the City of Toronto’s decision to clear homeless encampments?
Last Completed Projects
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