Course Description: CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT AND THE LAW Spring 2008 Mondays 1:00-2:50 (2 credit seminar) Professor Michael Scaperlanda University of Oklahoma College of Law 405-325-4833 mscaperlanda@ou.edu The 2000-year-old Catholic Church played a pivotal role in the formation of the western legal culture. Does it have anything of relevance left to offer that culture in the 21 st century? The seminar will explore this question. The topic is particularly timely because a majority of the justices on the Supreme Court are Catholic; Catholics represent a pivotal voting demographic in the American political landscape; and the issue of religion and religious values in the public square is hotly debated as some warn of a creeping theocracy and others of the naked public square, devoid of religious faith. Required Texts: Scaperlanda & Collett (eds), Recovering Self-Evident Truths: Catholic Perspectives on American Law (2007) Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (2004), available online at http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justp eace_doc_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html Catechism of the Catholic Church, available online at http://www.vatican.va/archive/eng0015/_index.htm A couple of other sources as indicated in the syllabus Postings on MOJ, online at http://www.mirrorofjustice.com/ Course Requirements: 1) Thoughtful preparation for and participation in class discussion each week. a) In addition to the assigned material for the week, each student will be responsible for following the posts on MOJ. b) Each student is encouraged to participate in the discussion on MOJ by asking me (or one of my co-bloggers) to post your comments to a post or post your questions regarding the Catholic Legal Theory project.
Page 2 of 6 2) A writing project: Let me know by January 23 rd of your choice between the following methods to convey how you plan to engage the material in this course. a) According to the scheme at the end of this syllabus, choose five class discussion topics on which you will write five four-page (double-spaced) reflection essays that thoughtfully engage the material as you try to understand what the Catholic Church (and the particular author) is proposing, why it is proposing it, and the questions and issues raised by the proposal. These papers and your reflections should greatly enrich our class discussion. You must turn in the essay at the beginning of that class. At the end of the semester, write a final 7-8 page essay that summarizes your reflections on the course as a whole. b) Write a 25 page (double-spaced) research paper to fulfill your graduation writing requirement (following the procedures appended to this syllabus) PLUS five half-page paragraphs (according to the scheme at the end of the syllabus) reflecting on the reading and raising questions and issues that should enrich our class discussion. You must turn in the reflection paragraphs at the beginning of class. I have a strong preference for the essay option. However, as some students may need to use this course to fulfill the graduation writing requirement, the paper option is also available. If you do choose the paper option, please note the additional requirement that is intended to encourage your engagement with the material throughout the course. Outline of Assignments and Discussion Topics Class 1 - January 14 Francis Cardinal George, Foreword in Recovering Self-Evident Truths, pp. xi-xii. Michael Scaperlanda and Teresa Collett, Introduction in Recovering Self-Evident Truths, pp. 1-14 Kevin Lee, The Foundations of Catholic Legal Theory: A Primer in Recovering Self- Evident Truths, pp. 15-35. January 21 No Class Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday I. The Nature of the Human Person Class 2 January 28 Lorenzo Albacete, A Theological Anthropology of the Human Person in Recovering Self- Evident Truths, pp. 39-51. Benedict Ashley, A Philosophical Anthropology of the Human Person in Recovering Self- Evident Truths, pp. 52-65. Compendium: 1-6, 13-20, 34-37, 72-78, 105-159 (25 pages). II The Person in Community
Page 3 of 6 Class 3 February 4 Avery Cardinal Dulles, Truth as the Ground for Freedom in Recovering Self-Evident Truths, pp. 69-84. Catechism, Part III, Chapter One, Articles 2-7: 1718-1719, 1730-1742, 1749-1756, 1762-1770, 1776-1794, 1803-1829 (19 pages) Class 4 February 11 Robert Vischer, Solidarity, Subsidiarity, and the Consumerist Impetus in American Law in Recovering Self-Evident Truths, pp. 85-103. Robert Araujo, The Constitution and the Common Good in Recovering Self-Evident Truths, pp. 104-127. Compendium: 160-197 (13 pages).
III Political and Legal Theory Catholic Social Thought and the Law Page 4 of 6 Class 5 February 18 Christopher Wolfe, Why We Should (and Should Not) Be Liberals in Recovering Self- Evident Truths, pp. 131-151. Robert George, Reason, Freedom, and the Rule of Law in Recovering Self-Evident Truths, pp. 152-160. Compendium: 377-427 (7 pages). IV. Substantive Areas of Law Class 6 Tuesday February 25 Thomas Kohler, Labor Law: Making Life More Human Work and the Social Question in Recovering Self-Evident Truths, pp. 163-190. Compendium: 323-376 (18 pages). Class 7 March 3 James Gordley, Contract Law: A Catholic Approach in Recovering Self-Evident Truths, pp. 191-204. Vincent Rougeau, Property Law: Catholic Social Thought and the New Urbanism in Recovering Self-Evident Truths, pp. 205-219. Compendium: 323-376 (18 pages) or TBA. Class 8 March 10 Amelia Uelmen, Tort Law: Toward a Trinitarian Theory of Products Liability in Recovering Self-Evident Truths, pp. 220-253. Gaudium et Spes 1-5, 12-38 available online at http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vatii_const_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html (18 pages). March 17 th No Class Spring Break Class 9 March 24 Richard Garnett, Criminal Law: Everlasting Splendors Death-Row Volunteers, Lawyer s Ethics and Human Dignity in Recovering Self-Evident Truths, pp. 254-274. Catechism, Part Three, Section Two, Chapter Two, Article 5 2258-2267. TBA Class 10 March 31
Page 5 of 6 John Coughlin, Family Law: Natural Law, Marriage, and the Thought of Karol Wojtyla in Recovering Self-Evident Truths, pp. 275-291. Compendium 209-254 (16 pages). Class 11 April 7 Michael Scaperlanda, Immigration Law: A Catholic Perspective on Immigration Justice in Recovering Self-Evident Truths, pp. 292-316. Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope, Pastoral Letter Concerning Migration from the Catholic Bishops of Mexico and the United States available online at http://www.usccb.org/mrs/stranger.shtml (16 pages) Class 12 April 14 Mary Ann Glendon, International Law: Foundations of Human Rights the Unfinished Business in Recovering Self-Evident Truths, pp. 317-332. Compendium 433-520 (29 pages). Class 13 - April 21 Russell Shaw, Catholics and the Two Cultures in Recovering Self-Evident Truths, pp. 333-340. Randy Lee, Epilogue in Recovering Self-Evident Truths, pp. 341-348. Dignitatis humanae available online at http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vatii_decl_19651207_dignitatis-humanae_en.html (9 pages).
Page 6 of 6 Reflection Essay Requirements and Guidelines HEADER: In the header of the first page of your essays, in addition to your name and the date, please also note which essay (out of the five required) this is for you and which week s material it addresses. Please number your pages, as that is a helpful orientation for when I give feedback. PAGE REQUIREMENT: Your essays should be four full pages, in Times New Roman 12 point font, 1 inch margins. CITATIONS: For citations to Church documents, next to your quoted text or citation, note the first two or three letters of the Latin title and the paragraph number of the document (eg, Gaudium et spes paragraph 4 = GS 4, Solicitudo rei socialis paragraph 19 = SRS 19). For citations to Recovering Self-Evident Truths, simply note the chapter author and the page number. Keep in mind that the essays are not research papers. However, if you are drawn to pulling in specific cases or law review articles as a basis for your discussion, a simplified notation with the most basic information just enough to orient me will be fine (e.g., US Cont. amend. 4; R. Posner, A Theory of Negligence 1972). The footnotes to the Compendium and the Catechism provide a rich source of primary texts if you choose to delve deeper. AVOID FOOTNOTES: In such a short essay, if you are tempted to drop into a long and extended discussion in a footnote, at least consider whether the thought might be better integrated into the text. Distribution of assignments for essays or half-paragraph reactions Essay #1 - Section I. Essay #2 Choose 1 set of materials from Section II. Essays #3 - #5 - Choose 3 sets of materials from Sections III & IV. Email a brief description of your essay focus by NOON on the day of class On the days that you have written an essay, please email me two lines about the focal point of your essay by no later than NOON of the day of class. This will help me understand how to fit your comments into our class discussion.