Public Affairs 6010: The Legal Environment of Public Affairs

1) We begin with the jargon, concepts, and reasoning skills necessary to work with the law and the legal profession.  These basic foundational elements are necessary for having a “legal conversation.”

2) Building upon the jargon and concepts, we can now acquire a basic understanding of how the American public law system operates and what the law requires of a public servant.

3) Once we understand what the law requires of us, we can now begin to creatively integrate those legal mandates with good management practice and the necessity of operating within a political environment.

4) Having acquired a basic understanding of the law and how to integrate those legal mandates with managerial and political values, you now have a firm foundation upon which to hold a positive, assertive attitude that public managers should work alongside lawyers and other stakeholders in the creation and implementation of law.

In addition to the conceptual and attitudinal objectives, there are several skills you will gain by enrolling in this class:

• Be able to recognize legal issues in fact patterns.  This ability to frame a conversation and identify the issues will serve you well in your professional career.
• How to avoid legal liability.  Public managers need to be innovative and to accept risk, but they need to do so wisely.
• How the “common law” works and learning the rudiments of legal research including the use of basic legal research resources.
• How to read and interpret statutes.  Many people avoid reading statutes, but they are what support and constrain the actions you can take.
• How to read court opinions and use legal reasoning.  Court opinions are binding interpretations of your responsibilities under the law.
• How to balance concerns for efficiency and politics against due process rights.
• How to make best use of increasing automation and AI in public organizations.
• How to make an Open Record (Ohio) or Freedom of Information Act (Federal) request for information.  This is an important skill for both citizens and civil servants who need to understand how to provide public information.
• How to post a comment on a pending federal regulation on Regulations.gov.  This is an important tool in cultivating citizen engagement in government.

A textbook may required for this course. Consult your instructor's syllabus for details.

• Class Participation, 75 points, 15%

• Early Feedback Quiz, 25 points, 5%

• Mid-Term Examination, 125 points, 25%

• Final Examination, 150 points, 30%

• Legal Writing Assignments, 125 points, 25%

Introduction of Yourself (5 possible points)
Please introduce yourself by uploading a video answering a couple of questions.  Directions on how to create a video are included on the assignment page.

“What is Interesting in the News” (25 points)
Description: Each student will sign up with a partner to present a legal news item that is interesting to them.  The froup will post their review on the appropriate discussion board before class (24 hours) and then lead the class discussion for 15 minutes.  Please see the assignment on the course website for specific details and an example.

This assignment will get you into the habit of deepening your understanding of the concepts covered in the class by applying them to real life events.  The second goal is to get you in the habit of reading the news with a “legal eye” so that you can maintain your proficiency in the law once you complete this course. 

Academic integrity and collaboration: This is an individual group assignment, and you cannot collaborate with others.  You are, however, are encouraged and almost expected to contact the instructor early, and work with the instructor in the preparation of your material.

Class Discussion and Discussion Board (40 possible points)
Class participation is very important to this class.  It is a public good.  

“In-class discussion” (i.e., the ‘Socratic method’) is especially important to understanding the material in this course.  Following Socrates, this method is based upon the presumption that you, at some level, already know the answer to a question. The ‘method’ is used to draw that answer out from you. (I believe you have the answers, but not because you have been reincarnated, as Socrates believed.) 

I will look first for volunteers to discuss a case, but if there are no volunteers, I will call on individuals randomly.  I tend to call on individuals that have not spoken recently.  Be strategic about when and how you may want to participate based upon your interest and understanding of the cases being discussed.

You can participate in class in many ways: 1) answering questions during class discussion; 2) asking a question to clarify a point made during class discussion; 3) volunteering a personal experience in class; 4) participating in discussion boards; or 5) providing a comment on one of your peer’s “What’s in the News” postings.  You will need to provide one comment on a news posting before the midterm and after the midterm in order to earn an “A” for class participation.

The discussion of law is not just a technical exercise.  It involves policies, values, and political beliefs.  My goal for the class is to have stimulating class discussion that includes diverse opinions.  Good discussion rules allow these varying viewpoints to be expressed and respected.  We will be developing ground rules for class discussion using a community discussion board.

There will be a short quiz on the fourth week of the class to give you feedback on how well you are doing with the course material.  This will be an in-class quiz and will mirror the kinds of questions that will be asked later in the midterm and final examinations.  Please refer to previous examinations available on the course website that can be found on the Learning Resources page.

Academic Integrity and collaboration: This quiz will be conducted in class. This is an individual assignment, and you cannot collaborate with others

All students are expected to take the examinations on the scheduled dates.  If there is a scheduling conflict, exceptions must be discussed with the instructor well in advance of the examination.  In the unlikely event of an emergency, please call or email as soon as it is convenient to do so, and we can make alternative arrangements.  The final examination is cumulative, and you are responsible for all the material covered during the course, although relatively more of the questions will focus on the material covered since the midterm.

Academic integrity and collaboration: The examination will be conducted in class. They are closed-book exams.  A list of case names will be provided with the examination. This is an individual assignment, and you cannot collaborate with others while you are taking the examination.

Exam Review
There will be an exam review scheduled before the midterm and final examinations. 

Please come to the reviews with specific questions.  Reviews assume that you have already covered the material and have specific questions about what you have already tried to understand.  Tell us what you don’t understand or are confused about.  We will not provide a whole explanation on “Separation of Powers” or “Due Process.”

The mid-term and final examinations will follow the same format.  Please review previous mid-term and final examinations.  (You may not be able to answer some questions because the course material varies from year-to-year.  They are provided to be as transparent as possible about what my exam questions look like.)  The final examination is cumulative although more of the questions will be drawn from material after the midterm.

There are important “legal writing” skills in working with the law.  Most of you will need these skills at some point during your professional life.  One skill is reading cases.  A second skill is in learning how to read and interpret statutes and rules.  We will practice these skills during most our class sessions.  There is a second set of skills that you will be graded on.  These skills build upon the first set of skills through specific assignments.  Please see the specific details in the assignment on the course website.  Each of these five assignments is worth twenty-five points.

Legal Writing 1: Public Request for Information

Description: This is assigned relatively early in the course to provide you with the maximum opportunity to receive a response by the end of the course.  Please be sure to follow-up if you are not getting a response. 

Data and information are increasingly important currency in governing.  As a citizen, you will need this skill to obtain public information.  This exercise will provide you with an opportunity to think about how to provide this service, and more importantly, how government will operate in the future.  I would like you to request that the response be in a digital form.

Academic integrity and collaboration: This is an individual assignment, and you cannot collaborate with others in completing the assignment.

Legal Writing 2: Common Law on 1st Amendment Rights of Public Employees

Description: You will review common law and come to a conclusion on what implications the law has for your 1st Amendment rights as a public employee. You will deepen your understanding of the common law and you will also have a chance to work with some of the tools important to finding and researching the law.  You will also have a chance to know your rights!

Academic integrity and collaboration: You will complete the part of the assignment individually.  You will then upload your response and bring a copy to your group discussion.  The second part of the assignment involves collaborative discussion of that will result in the completion of the second part of the assignment.

Legal Writing 3: Ethics Certification

Description: You can obtain an Ohio Ethics Law certification by completing this one-hour course.

Academic integrity and collaboration: You will complete this certification course individually.

Legal Writing 4: Balancing Due Process and Efficiency

Description: There is a constant pressure for more and more efficiency in government but how do we balance this pressure against the fairness requirements of the Due Process clause? This assignment will allow you to apply your legal knowledge, together with your coursework on management and economics, to examine an organizational process, food stamps (“SNAP”). We will be examining the existing application process to determine where we can improve the process.  The results of your work in this Legal Writing assignment will lay the foundation for the module on “Automation and AI” in which we will explore the increasing pressure to automate using information technology.

Academic integrity and collaboration: You will complete the part of the assignment individually.  You will then upload your response and bring a copy to your group discussion.  The second part of the assignment involves collaborative discussion of that will result in the completion of the second part of the assignment.

Legal Writing 5: Posting an Electronic Comment on an Administrative Rule

Description: This assignment will provide an experiential opportunity to learn how regulations are created.  You will also get to see what a “docket” is. The purpose of this assignment is to provide you with an opportunity to think about how we can improve citizen engagement with government.  This assignment will also provide you with another very practical skill.

Academic integrity and collaboration: This is an individual assignment, and you cannot collaborate with others in completing the assignment.