Undergraduate, 5 Units, Winter 2013 (Rob Reich)
Justice, the philosopher John Rawls believed, is the first virtue of social institutions. But justice is difficult to define and still more difficult to achieve. In this class, we will consider how three core ideals animate most theories of justice: freedom, equality, and security. The U.S. Constitution spells out the legal framework for the operation of these ideals. Civil rights legislation and litigation are a primary arena in which tensions among the ideals emerge and play out. With 9/11 and the war on terror as our backdrop, this class will examine the idea of justice at home and abroad, focusing on civil liberties as the arena of our concern. This class is especially useful for students thinking about law school, but it is designed for any student interested in the topics.