University of Houston Law Center



Class 1, 1/19—What is Law?

Total Time Allotment: 60 minutes

Learning Outcomes and Goals:

1) Teacher will get to know the students a little better through the use of the name game and will attempt to invoke a relaxed and fun class atmosphere.

2) Students will generally understand the definition and influence of ‘the law.’

3) Students will analyze and discuss the reasons why we need laws.

4) Students will discuss their first case study and analyze a legal/moral dilemma.

Methodologies Used: highlighted in yellow.

Needed Materials: notecards, writing instruments, street law books, contract handouts, and syllabus handouts.

[5 minutes] Have students pick up a book, pass out syllabi, and pass around notecards for email addresses, names, and goals for the semester. I will address the syllabus while they fill out notecards.

The Introduction: Courses’ purpose- intro to the law, applicable and realistic.

- One class rule- respect. Open Discussion, free to express your thoughts and ask questions. Disclaimer- not a lawyer.

- My one recommendation for how to do well in this class is to take notes. Don’t have to write down everything I say, just the important things.

- Give my background

[10 minutes max] Icebreaker: The name game, “My name is Ms. Mott and I love the law.”

[5 minutes max] Contract Signing Illustration: example of giving away or retaining of rights. There are some rights you give up just by being in the United States. For example, you do not have an absolute right to privacy. Ex- Police officer sees a dead body in your trunk, he has reasonable suspicion to search your car. You do not have an absolute right to freedom of speech. Ex- people have gotten fired from their job because of things they have posted on facebook. During the semester, we’ll go into more detail about what rights you have under law and what rights you don’t. (Quick lecture)

[15-20 minutes] Main Topic for Today: We will be discussing broadly, the law: what is it, why do we need it, and how does it help us as a society of over 300 million individuals?

o General definition of the ‘law’ (write this down): rules and regulations made and enforced by the government that regulate the conduct of people within a society.

Why do we need laws? Split into small groups of 3-4 and come up with 3 reasons why we need laws. Q&A method.

1) To obtain equal treatment and protect the rights of minorities-- just this past year, gay couples were granted the legal right to get married. (Obergefell v. Hodges). Equal treatment should mean equal for all people.

2) Protecting basic human rights- most people consider marriage and reproduction to be a basic human right. Some other basic rights that we have? Right to trial- have to prove you’re guilty.

3) Expectations: laws are passed so citizens know what is expected of them. What do you think is expected of you? Have to pay taxes. You are also expected to know what could get you in trouble. Legal maxim: ignorance of the law is no excuse. So even if you don’t realize what you’re doing is illegal, you could get in trouble for it.

4) Monitor bad behavior—are you allowed to drive while drunk? No. Are you allowed to pee in public? No. Are you required by law to wear your seatbelt? Yes. It is believed that this promotes order and stability.

5) Safety and Health—seatbelt example, what other kinds of laws operate to keep you safe? In the Victorian era, they would send children down into dangerous coal mines to work for up to 12 hours in a row with much lower payment than adults. As time progressed and society changed, laws were passed that prevented child exploitation and child labor is very heavily regulated.

6) Representing the will of the majority-- currently we use the law to represent the opinions of the majority. What do the most people believe is the correct course of action? The people who make the laws are the people we elect to represent our views. That’s why it is so important that you vote!

▪ But consider this: the laws now are not the same as they were 200 years ago because society has changed.

▪ What are some laws that you think have changed? Slavery, voting rights, women can own property, people can get divorced (used to be illegal). In fact, it used to be illegal for people of different races to get married.

By a show of hands: Who thinks there is too much government regulation? Who thinks we should have more laws?

[15 minutes] Regardless of whether you think we need more or less, the law already touches your daily lives. Turn to the person next to you and come up with 3 ways you think the law could govern your daily activities (partner discussion).

o Your name is a legal device that cannot be changed without court approval and the proper filing of the correct legal documents.

o Time is regulated by law.

o The water that you use for your daily shower is inspected by city officials and has to meet standards regulated by law.

o How many of you have your driver’s licenses? You have to be licensed under law to drive and must obey all traffic regulations.

o The clothes you are wearing right now have to have its content printed of their label.

o Name some things you’d have for breakfast… the milk that you use for your cereal in the morning has to meet federal standards regulated by the law, so as to not make people sick.

o The car you drive has safety and pollution control devices set by national standards. Also, the streets you drive on are built and maintained under legal standards (that goes back to the safety and health of citizens).

o Even breathing is regulated by air quality laws and pollution control standards.

Do any of these laws surprise you? Who thinks some laws are dumb?

- Quick Game of True or False: (student participation)

1) In Clarendon, Texas, it is illegal to dust any public building with a feather duster. TRUE

2) In Galveston, it is illegal to sniff model glue. TRUE

3) In Texas, it is illegal to own a tiger. FALSE- with the proper license and cage, it’s legal.

4) In Harker Heights, Texas it is illegal to swear in church. TRUE

5) In Mesquite, Texas, it is illegal for your child to have an unusual haircut. TRUE

6) In Texas, it is illegal to own a flamethrower. FALSE- only regulated on a state level, not on the federal level, and Texas allows them.

[10 minutes] Oftentimes the law will attempt to tell you what is right and wrong, but sometimes the law will assign you with responsibilities. For example, if you are an employer, you have a duty to protect your employees from sexual harassment.

o Turn to page 11 in your books and I want someone to read “The Apathetic Bystander” aloud. [Case Study]

o Class discussion + light lecture regarding the problems on page 11:

a. Why do you think the bystanders took no action to help?

i. People didn’t care; afraid to get involved; jaded by the amount of crime in the city; exposure to violence in the media; people didn’t trust the police.

ii. Social scientists have discussed the Bystander Effect: shows that the more bystanders there are in a situation, the less likely any individual bystander is to help. People think that someone else will help, so they don’t help themselves. So perhaps the people in our case just thought that someone else would call the police.

a. Do you think the bystanders committed a crime by not acting and letting Kitty get murdered?

i. Remember: morality is not the same thing as legality.

ii. In general, failure to assist a person in need is not a crime unless there is a special relationship between you and the victim. For example, parents have a legal duty to help their children and spouses have a legal duty to help one another. Also, if you assumed responsibility for a person, like through a contract, then you could be held liable. For example, a day care worker would have a duty to help the children under their care or a lifeguard would have a duty to assist a drowning swimmer in the area they are guarding.

iii. Do you think you could be liable for not helping if you caused the situation? Yes- if you were a negligent driver and you hit someone else’s car and they were injured, you would have a duty to call an ambulance for the other driver. If you just drove away, you would get in a lot more trouble.

iv. In this case, since none of the bystanders had a duty to Kitty, there was no special relationship, and the bystanders did not cause the situation. Therefore, the bystanders cannot be held liable for a crime.

1. Who thinks this is a good rule or a bad rule?

b. Did the bystanders do the right thing? This problem is an excellent illustration of how it is possible to be morally wrong while still acting with the confines of the law.

i. People can argue this point both ways, but I want you to think this semester about how morality should or should not influence the creation of laws.

c. Should the law hold citizens hold citizens responsible for not helping out in cases like this?

i. Some states have “Good Samaritan” laws, which would require citizens to help others in need of assistance.

ii. Pros- promotes citizen responsibility and morality, aids the police by ensuring they are notified of crimes in progress, may help save lives.

iii. Cons- law would be difficult to enforce and prosecute, inconsistent with the rights of citizens to be left alone while minding their own business and not actively doing anything wrong.

Class Conclusion: Today, I hope you learned why we need laws. Some of them are super helpful (like air pollution control and driving standards and laws protecting children) and then some of them as we discussed before just seem unnecessary (like it being illegal to swear in church). Objectively, I want you to understand why laws are needed in our society. Because they help keep us safe, attempt to provide equal treatment, work to monitor bad behavior, promote order and stability, and provide citizens with expectations of what is legal or illegal. We’ll delve into more detail on the law next class.

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