First Day Assignment for Civil Procedure Sections C1 and C2 – Professor Gundlach

Please access my Blackboard course page through the Hofstra portal, review the opening announcement, the syllabus, and the first module under Course Materials entitled Introduction and Overview Materials. Be sure to post a comment in the Discussion Thread entitled Introductions. And for our first class, read pp. 3-34 in the Freer Casebook.

First Assignment:
“Fairness” and Notice (State Court):  Babcock, Massaro text, p. 1-35 [U.S. Constitution 14th Amendment (Statutory Supplement in BLACKBOARD)] (Problem Case, p. 1);

Section A1
Civil Procedure (A1) 93828  
Wednesday – 3:00pm-5:20pm Room 230
Friday – 9:00am-11:20am – Room 230

Section A2
Civil Procedure (A2) 94322  
Wednesday – 10:30am-12:50pm – Room 238
Friday – 1:00pm-3:20pm – Room 238

Class 1 (Read prior to 1st class session)

• Read pp. 1-28
• Look at Judicial Map, “Geographic Boundaries of United States Courts of Appeals and United States District Courts (contained within the PDF of supplemental materials available on BLACKBOARD)
• Read Avista Management, Inc. v. Wausau Underwriters Insurance Company (contained within the PDF of supplemental materials available on BLACKBOARD)
• Optional Reading: Professor Freedman’s “Eight Minutes of Reading on Eight Hundred Years of Procedure to Help You Understand the Next Eight Months” (contained within the PDF of supplemental materials).

Syllabus available on the course blackboard/portal.

Course Materials

We will be using Kadish, Schulhofer, Steiker & Barkow, Criminal Law and Its Processes (10TH  edition) as our casebook.

I will post a full semester course syllabus on Blackboard within the next week. In addition, there may be supplemental materials added to Blackboard for our first classes. I will notify you via email to check for those materials once added.

For our first 2 weeks, please read, review, and be ready to discuss and analyze the material below.

Pages

Weeks 1-2: Chapter 3: Legality 157 - 202

Chapter 2: Justification for Punishment 150-156; 81-106; 118-138

First Assignment: Criminal Law – Fissell
Casebook pages 1-31

First Assignment

The text book we are using for this course is Dressler and Garvey, Criminal Law; Cases and Comments (8th ed West Academic). You can purchase it in the university bookstore or anywhere else you can find the same edition at more favorable rates.

For the 1st class, please read the following pages in the Dressler book:

Assignment 1- Introduction: Setting the Stage

• Pages 1-7, (before section C)
• Page 9 (before Notes and Questions, hereinafter “N and Q”)
• Pages 11 (note 2) – 13 (before note 5)

For those who are interested in the location of their seat, you should arrive at the 1st class early and select the seat you want for the semester. There are assigned seats for the course which are determined by where you sit at the first class. A seating chart will be prepared based on where you sit for the first class.

Finally, but of no lesser importance, please carefully read the Syllabus which is posted on Blackboard before the first class.

Please feel free to email me at fred.klein@gmail.com with any questions or comments. I look forward to working with you during your time at Hofstra.

The textbook we are using for this course is Criminal Law and its Processes: Cases and Materials (10th edition) by Kadish, Schulhofer, Steiker and Barkow.

I have posted the full syllabus on TWEN for your review.  The August 12th class will be our orientation. On August 12th, I will have available in class hard copies of our syllabus and The Case of the Speluncean Explorers.

For our first substantive class on Monday, August 17th, please read and be prepared to discuss Lon L. Fuller's The Case of Speluncean Explorers, posted electronically on TWEN, as well as Regina v. Dudley and Stephens, pages 89-95 in the casebook. 

Please feel free to email me at judgenap@foxnews.com with any questions about these assignments. I look forward to meeting each of you in person on the 12th.

WELCOME TO LEGAL ANALYSIS, WRITING AND RESEARCH (LAW&R)

My name is Professor Campagna (rhymes with “lasagna”) and our teaching assistants are Nicole Donadio, Jamie Johnson and Christopher (“Chris”) Picciano, all 2Ls who took this class last year.  We all look forward to meeting you and getting to know you.  This note includes information on your first assignment and comments regarding your course books.  I have posted our class syllabus and a host of other course documents on TWEN – our course site.  You do not need to “read” anything before our first class on Friday, August 14.  I will be sending you all the initial materials via our TWEN e-mail site.  Thus, signing up on the course TWEN site just as soon as possible is a must.
 
Initial Assignment

FOR YOUR FIRST ASSIGNMENT, DUE ON OR BEFORE TUESDAY, AUGUST 11 by 10 a.m., DO THE FOLLOWING. 

1. Read Julia Preston, 270 Illegal Immigrants Sent to Prison in Federal Push, N.Y. Times, May 24, 2008 at A12.  This article is attached to this assignment sheet for your convenience.  Even though the article is 12 years old, it is highly relevant.
2. Write three to five paragraphs “in response” / “reacting” to this article.  Size 12 font.  Double space.  Use one of the following fonts:  Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri, Cambria, Courier New or Tahoma.  Send in Word.  Do not send in pdf.
3. Put your name on the assignment.
4. Send your essay, as an attachment, to me at:  juliana.campagna@hofstra.edu. 

 “In response” means that you must express your opinion on the events described.  Book reports have no place in the law.  I am not here to judge what you think.  I am here to teach you how to write like a lawyer (something you are not remotely expected to know in advance of this course!), and need to see how you write like a layperson, to start.  Thus, this essay constitutes a writing sample, for me.

Do not cite anything in your essay.  Simply write it, as instructed. 

BE CAREFUL TO FOLLOW ALL INSTRUCTIONS TO THE LETTER.  READING AND FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS ARE TWO FUNDAMENTAL SKILLS ALL LAWYERS NEED.

This assignment will not be graded, but failure to turn it in on time, and in the required format, will cause you to lose points.

Course Books

Please read my comments on the course books closely.  I am so flabbergasted at the costs of books that I would like you to hold off on buying any of them until we meet.  We will discuss books and purchasing them during our very first class. 
I look forward to meeting you all,

Professor Juli Campagna
juliana.campagna@hofstra.edu

Encl.

p/s – You are welcome to write me with questions.  All I ask is that you “address” me.  I will also address you.  “Hi” – without a name after it - is categorically not an address, which is why I do not respond to any e-mails that start that way. [I shudder to think what a judge would do if he or she received “Hi” with nothing more from a lawyer!]

May 24, 2008 – NEW YORK TIMES

270 Illegal Immigrants Sent to Prison in Federal Push

By JULIA PRESTON

WATERLOO, Iowa — In temporary courtrooms at a fairgrounds here, 270 illegal immigrants were sentenced this week to five months in prison for working at a meatpacking plant with false documents.

The prosecutions, which ended Friday, signal a sharp escalation in the Bush administration’s crackdown on illegal workers, with prosecutors bringing tough federal criminal charges against most of the immigrants arrested in a May 12 raid. Until now, unauthorized workers have generally been detained by immigration officials for civil violations and rapidly deported.

The convicted immigrants were among 389 workers detained at the Agriprocessors Inc. plant in nearby Postville in a raid that federal officials called the largest criminal enforcement operation ever carried out by immigration authorities at a workplace.

Matt M. Dummermuth, the United States attorney for northern Iowa, who oversaw the prosecutions, called the operation an “astonishing success.”

Claude Arnold, a special agent in charge of investigations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said it showed that federal officials were “committed to enforcing the nation’s immigration laws in the workplace to maintain the integrity of the immigration system.”

The unusually swift proceedings, in which 297 immigrants pleaded guilty and were sentenced in four days, were criticized by criminal defense lawyers, who warned of violations of due process. Twenty-seven immigrants received probation. The American Immigration Lawyers Association protested that the workers had been denied meetings with immigration lawyers and that their claims under immigration law had been swept aside in unusual and speedy plea agreements.

The illegal immigrants, most from Guatemala, filed into the courtrooms in groups of 10, their hands and feet shackled. One by one, they entered guilty pleas through a Spanish interpreter, admitting they had taken jobs using fraudulent Social Security cards or immigration documents. Moments later, they moved to another courtroom for sentencing.

The pleas were part of a deal worked out with prosecutors to avoid even more serious charges. Most immigrants agreed to immediate deportation after they serve five months in prison.

The hearings took place on the grounds of the National Cattle Congress in Waterloo, in mobile trailers and in a dance hall modified with black curtains, beginning at 8 a.m. and continuing several nights until 10. On Wednesday alone, 94 immigrants pleaded guilty and were sentenced, the most sentences in a single day in this northern Iowa district, according to Robert L. Phelps, the clerk of court.

Mr. Arnold, the immigration agent, said the criticism of the proceedings was “the usual spate of false allegations and baseless rumors.”

The large number of criminal cases was remarkable because immigration violations generally fall under civil statutes. Until now, relatively few immigrants caught in raids have been charged with federal crimes like identity theft or document fraud.

“To my knowledge, the magnitude of these indictments is completely unprecedented,” said Juliet Stumpf, an immigration law professor at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Ore., who was formerly a senior civil rights lawyer at the Justice Department. “It’s the reliance on criminal process here as part of an immigration enforcement action that takes this out of the ordinary, a startling intensification of the criminalization of immigration law.”

Defense lawyers, who were appointed by the court, said most of the immigrants were ready to accept the plea deals because of the hard bargain driven by the prosecutors.

If the immigrants did not plead guilty, Mr. Dummermuth said he would try them on felony identity theft charges that carry a mandatory two-year minimum jail sentence. In many cases, court documents show, the immigrants were working under real Social Security numbers or immigration visas, known as green cards, that belonged to other people.

All but a handful of the workers here had no criminal record, court documents showed.

“My family is worried in Guatemala,” one defendant, Erick Tajtaj, entreated the federal district judge who sentenced him, Mark W. Bennett. “I ask that you deport us as soon as possible, that you do us that kindness so we can be together again with our families.”

No charges have been brought against managers or owners at Agriprocessors, but there were indications that prosecutors were also preparing a case against the company. In pleading guilty, immigrants had to agree to cooperate with any investigation.

Chaim Abrahams, a representative of Agriprocessors, said in a statement that he could not comment about specific accusations but that the company was cooperating with the government. Aaron Rubashkin, the owner of Agriprocessors, announced Friday that he had begun a search to replace his son Sholom as the chief executive of the company. Agriprocessors is the country’s largest producer of kosher meat, sold under brands like Aaron’s Best. The plant is in Postville, a farmland town about 70 miles northeast of Waterloo. Normally it employs about 800 workers, and in recent years the majority of them have come from rural Guatemala.

Since 2004, the plant has faced repeated sanctions for environmental and worker safety violations. It was the focus of a 2006 exposé in The Jewish Daily Forward and a commission of inquiry that year by Conservative Jewish leaders.

In Postville, workers from the plant, still feeling aftershocks from the raid, said conditions there were often harsh. In interviews, they said they were often required to work overtime and night shifts, sometimes up to 14 hours a day, but were not consistently paid for the overtime.

“We knew what time we would start work but we did not know what time we would finish,” said Élida, 29, a Guatemalan who was arrested in the raid and then released to care for her two children. She asked that her last name not be published because she is in this country illegally.

A 16-year-old Guatemalan girl, who asked to be identified only as G.O. because she is illegal and a minor and was not involved in the raid, said she had been working the night shift plucking chickens. “When you start, you can’t stay awake,” she said. “But after a while you get used to it.”

The workers said that supervisors and managers were well aware that the immigrants were working under false documents.

Defense lawyers, who each agreed to represent as many as 30 immigrants, said they were satisfied that they had sufficient time to question them and prepare their cases. But some lawyers said they were troubled by the severity of the charges.

At one sentencing hearing, David Nadler, a defense lawyer, said he was “honored to represent such good and brave people,” saying the immigrants’ only purpose had been to provide for their families in Guatemala.

“I want the court to know that these people are the kings of family values,” Mr. Nadler said.

Judge Bennett appeared moved by Mr. Nadler’s remarks. “I don’t doubt for a moment that you are good, hard-working people who have done what you did to help your families,” Judge Bennett told the immigrants. “Unfortunately for you, you committed a violation of federal law.”

After the hearing, Mr. Nadler said the plea agreements were the best deal available for his clients. But he was dismayed that prosecutors had denied them probation and insisted the immigrants serve prison time and agree to a rarely used judicial order for immediate deportation upon their release, signing away their rights to go to immigration court.

“That’s not the defense of justice,” Mr. Nadler said. “That’s just politics.”

Christopher Clausen, a lawyer who represented 21 Guatemalans, said he was certain they all understood their options and rights. Mainly they wanted to get home to Guatemala as quickly as possible, he said.

“The government is not bashful about the fact that they are trying to send a message,” Mr. Clausen said, “that if you get caught working illegally here you will pay a criminal penalty.”

Robert Rigg, a Drake University law professor who is president of the Iowa Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said his group was not consulted when prosecutors and court officials began to make plans, starting in December, for the mass proceedings.

“You really are force feeding the system just to churn these people out,” Mr. Rigg said.

Kathleen Campbell Walker, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said that intricate issues could arise in some cases, for example where immigrants had children and spouses who were legal residents or United States citizens. Those issues “could not be even cursorily addressed in the time frame being forced upon these individuals and their overburdened counsel.”

Linda R. Reade, the chief judge who approved the emergency court setup, said she was confident there had been no rush to justice. In an interview, Judge Reade said prosecutors had organized the immigrants’ detention to make it easy for their lawyers to meet with them. The prosecutors, she said, “have tried to be fair in their charging.”

The immigration lawyers, Judge Reade said, “do not understand the federal criminal process as it relates to immigration charges.”

First Assignment (PDF)

Handout 1 (PDF)

Welcome to Hofstra Law School. Our first class is on Tuesday, August 11 from 8:20-10:20 a.m. in Room 308.

Please note that it is University Policy that all students must wear a face mask at all times when in the Law School building. If a student enters a classroom without a mask, they will be asked to either put on a mask or leave. If they fail to do so, Public Safety will be called and class will not begin until the situation has been resolved. Please also note that failure to wear a mask is a violation of the Law School’s Code of Academic Conduct and may result in disciplinary procedures and sanctions.

Prior to our first class, please:

1. Purchase the following books, which are available in the Hofstra Bookstore: Neumann, Legal Reasoning and Legal Writing (8th ed.);
   The Bluebook, A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed.).
   Be certain that you have the correct edition for each book.
2. You need to register for both Westlaw and Lexis+, the two computer-assisted legal research providers that we will be using. To register, please click the links below, and they will take you to the registration pages.
   • LexisNexis Registration
   • Westlaw Registration
If you have any problems registering your accounts, please contact a reference librarian or the database reps:
• If you have any questions on Lexis, please contact your Lexis representative Ms. Stafilias. Her e-mail is:Antoinette.stafilias@lexisnexis.com.
• If you have any questions on Westlaw, please contact your Westlaw account manager Estee Waxman at estee.waxman@tr.com.
3. Please be aware that you must also register for the TWEN page for this class. I post many class assignments and other documents there, and use it to communicate with the class.
4. Read the following documents, posted on TWEN, and bring copies to class:
   1. Syllabus;
   2. Tentative Class Schedule;
   3. Lexis Learn Modules.
5. Read Neumann, Chs. 1 – 3 and 6.

I look forward to meeting each of you. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your summer.

Dear Students,

Welcome to law school! I look forward to meeting each of you soon. In advance of our first class, please:

1. Purchase the following books, which are available in the Hofstra Bookstore:
   1. Neumann, Legal Reasoning and Legal Writing (8th ed.); Sloan, Basic Legal Research Tools and Strategies (7th ed.); The Bluebook, A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed.) and Interactive Citation Workbook for the Bluebook (2020 Edition). Be certain that you have the correct edition for each book--do not purchase an older edition.
2. Please register for both Westlaw and Lexis
3. Please sign up for the TWEN page for this class.
4. Please download the Syllabus from TWEN and read it carefully.
5. Please read Chapters 1-3 in Legal Reasoning and Legal Writing; read the Roberson case, beginning on page 26 of the text, and prepare Exercise II, on page 33. Please also prepare a brief of the Costanza case on pp. 35-36, using the Case Briefing Form posted on TWEN and submit your typewritten Costanza brief through the "Assignments and Quizzes" tab on TWEN before our class.
   1. Be sure to allow enough time for this assignment as it is likely to take longer than you think and you will need to spend time looking up unfamiliar terms. You will be expected to participate in class discussions, even those held on the first day.

If you have any questions at all, please reach out to me at Susan.L.Greene@hofstra.edu. Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Prof. Greene

kevin.mcelroy@hofstra.edu

INFORMATION & INITIAL ASSIGNMENTS FOR LAW& R I - SECTION A2

Welcome to Hofstra Law School and to Legal Analysis, Writing & Research I. I am looking forward to working with you for the next academic year. This semester we will be meeting on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:10-10:10 am in room 238.

The two required book are:

• Neumann, Legal Reasoning and Legal Writing (8th ed.); and
• The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed.)

Be certain that you have the correct edition for each book. Unfortunately the new edition of the Bluebook came out this month so you will not be able to buy a used copy.

Check the class wide emails I have sent and the TWEN page for the course for more information.

The assignments for the first three classes are:

• Date: Tue. 8/11
  • To be completed before class:
    • Read Chapters 1-3 and 5 in the Neumann book.
    • As you read the Roberson case beginning on page 26, ask yourself which part(s) of the decision each sentence of the opinion is conveying.
  • To be covered in class:
    • Be prepared to discuss Exercises II & III in Chapter 3 (p. 33-34);
    • Be prepared to contribute to the discussion creating a brief of the Costanza case (pages 35-36), using the briefing template on TWEN.
• Date: Thu. 8/13
  • To be completed before class:
    • Read Benjamin v. Lindner (on TWEN and prepare a brief of the case using the template on TWEN).
    • Read chapters 6 and 11-14 in the Neumann book; skim (and I do mean skim) pages 1 – 24 in the Bluebook.
  • To be covered in class:
    • We will discuss the Benjamin case, the Bluebook and topics covered in Neumann reading.
• Date: Tue. 8/18
  • To be completed before class:
    • Read Chapters 7 and 9; Read the Nansen v. Byrd exercise posted on TWEN.
  • To be covered in class:
    • Be prepared to discuss Nansen v. Byrd Read case series on TWEN, brief the case assigned to you and be prepared to discuss all cases.

Welcome to Hofstra Law School.   While you may be feeling somewhat intimidated by the prospect of three years of law school, don’t.  Orientation is designed to lessen your apprehension and give you some tools to smooth the transition into law school.  I will also do whatever I can to help. 

Our scheduled class time is Mondays and Wednesdays from 10:30 am – 12:30 pm in Room 308. You will be assigned a seat for the semester at the first class. Due to social distancing protocols, I ask that you do not come to the podium before or after class to ask me questions; I also will not be seeing students face-to-face in my office.  I am always happy to answer your questions and to meet with you but in order to remain safe and healthy all of our individual meetings this semester will be via Zoom.  One of the many reasons that I love teaching legal writing is the pleasure I take in getting to know you each of you.  I am confident that I will be able to build those relationships with you despite social distancing.

Provost's Fall 2020 Regulations for Face Masks 
Hofstra University has a zero-tolerance policy that mandates the wearing of masks in buildings on campus (other than your own residence hall room or when you are alone in your own office). Masks must be cloth masks or single use procedure masks based on CDC guidelines. For appropriate/acceptable masks, see the cdc.gov/coronavirus Website). The mask must cover your nose and mouth without large gaps. Masks with a valve or vent or bandanas will not be permitted. Based on the mask mandate, food or drink will not be permitted in class. Any student refusing to wear an appropriate mask or in a proper manner will be asked to leave the class immediately. If the student does not leave immediately the class will be dismissed. The student will also immediately be officially withdrawn from the class, given a grade of W for the course, and be otherwise subject to additional discipline. Face masks help prevent the spread of COVID-19. As it is possible to have coronavirus without showing symptoms, it is necessary for every person in our Hofstra community to wear a mask even if you think you are healthy. 

Prior to our first Legal Analysis class, please:

• Purchase the following books, which are available in the Hofstra Bookstore:
  Neumann, Legal Reasoning and Legal Writing (8th ed.);  Sloan, Basic Legal Research Tools and Strategies (7th Edition); The Bluebook, A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed.) and Interactive Citation Workbook for the Bluebook (2020 Edition).  Be certain that you have the correct edition for each book.
• You need to register for both Westlaw and Lexis, the two computer assisted legal research providers that we will be using.  The Westlaw registration information is in the packet that you received from admissions. To register for Lexis+, please click the link below, and it will take you  directly to the registration page dedicated to Hofstra.
  Registration Link
• Please be aware that you must also register for the TWEN page for this class.  I post many class assignments and other documents there, and use it to communicate with the class. You will also be required to hand in many of your assignments using TWEN.

For our first class on Wednesday the 12th please read Chapters 1-3 in Legal Reasoning and Legal Writing.  Please read the Roberson case, beginning on page 26 of the text, and prepare Exercise II, on page 33.  Please also prepare a brief of the Costanza case on pp. 35-36, using the Case Briefing Form posted on TWEN. 

A couple of comments about this assignment:

• Please submit your typewritten Roberson and Costanza briefs through the “Assignments & Quizzes” tab on TWEN.  This is how you will be submitting your assignments in this class so handing in the briefs this way is good practice.
• Feel free to download the Case Briefing Form and use it for your briefs in all of your classes if you wish. 
• Be sure to allow enough time for this assignment as it is likely to take longer than you think and you will need to spend time looking up unfamiliar terms.  You will be expected to participate in class discussions, even those held on the first day.
• Please print out and read through the Course Outline and Guidelines that are posted on the TWEN page for this class. We will be discussing them during our first session.
• Fill out the “Getting to Know You” form.  The form is posted  under the “Assignments & Quizzes” tab on TWEN.  Once you have completed it, please submit it through the link that you will see on that page. 
• Finally, because of the unique nature of this semester, you will need to bring your computer to every class session in order to maximize your participation.   

I look forward to meeting each of you.  In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your summer.

First Assignment: Prof. Bush Torts C1 and C2

Topics:
The Negligence “Theory”: “Wrongful” Conduct
Risk/Avoidance (R/Av) Theory

Reading:
“Goals and Rules” (posted on Blackboard Course Docs)
Franklin Rabin Text (FR) pp. 1-18 (Hammontree)
FR pp. 35-53, 68-72 (Brown, Adams, Carroll Towing, Andrews – and notes)

Please also read Course Policies and Additional Policies, before class.

Welcome to Hofstra Law School.  Prior to our first class, please:

1. Purchase the following book:
   • Dan B, Dobbs et al., Torts and Compensation: Personal Accountability and Social Responsibility for Injury (2017 Concise 8th Edition).
2. Review the Course Syllabus posted on Blackboard.
3. Read Dobbs, Chs. 1-2.  Prepare case briefs of the Van Camp v. McAfoos and Dillon v. Frazer cases found in the reading.  You may (but are not required to) use the briefing template provided on Blackboard.  

First Assignment: Torts – Fissell

Casebook pp. 1-33 n.4.