100
THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL
racy, legislative fact-finding and drafting, and the preparation and significance of legislative history. This course is a prerequisite to several advanced public law courses. (Examination)
6418 Legislative Analysis and Drafting (2)
Craighill, Strokoff
Instruction in the basic skills necessary for translating the specifications of the policymaker into legislation. Topics include determining policy objectives and an appropriate legislative scheme for their achievement; an overview of the legislative process; typical provisions in legislation; organizational issues in drafting; and the structural component of legislation. Enrollment is limited. (Take-home examination and drafting assignments) (Skills)
6419 Campaign Finance Law (2 or 3)
Overton, Noble
The history, structure, application, and constitutionality of campaign finance laws. Topics include disclosure, regulation of corporations and unions, contribution limits, the role of issue advocacy in election campaigns, political party activities, public funding of campaigns, the role of the Federal Election Committee (FEC), criminal enforcement of finance laws, and campaign finance reform. Focus on the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. (Take-home examination or research paper with permission of the instructor)
6420 Congressional Investigations Seminar (2)
Leon
Congressional powers to conduct oversight and investigations of the executive branch. Topics include the scope of Congressional inquiries and investigations; subpoena, grant-of-immunity, hearing, and rule-making powers; the use of select committees, the Government Accounting Office, and other special investigative techniques; pre-hearing depositions; the rights and preparations of witnesses; the role of the press; and the interaction between Congress and prosecutorial functions, including investigations conducted pursuant to the Independent Counsel Statute. (Writing assignments)
6421 Lawyers, Lobbying, and the Law (2)
Eskin, Farah, Walls
The role of the lawyer in business–government relations. Topics include an overview of government policymaking processes; how lawyers participate in influencing government decisions; the various types of lobbying (grassroots, direct, etc.); ethics and lobbying; lobbying regulatory agencies; and attorney–media relations. (Examination)
6422 Local Government Law (2)
Thompson
Survey of the legal authority of city, county, and special-district local government units. Topics include the relationship of municipal governments with state and federal agencies; recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions affecting local governments; organizational structure and internal decision-making processes in metropolitan and other municipal-level governments; procedures for changing the form and function of local governments (e.g., annexation); local legislative and administrative authority and processes (e.g., municipal police powers); municipal finance; responsibility in tort and insurance issues; community and regional land use planning; and joint power agreements and intergovernmental compacts. (Research paper)
6423 Veterans Law (2)
W. Greene, Ridgway
Because of its isolation from judicial review for more than 20 years, the uniquely proclaimant veterans benefits system has procedures with no direct analogies to other legal areas and has different approaches to familiar legal issues. The history and politics of veterans benefits. The system’s ideals and the burden of processing more than one million claims per year. (Take-home examination)
6424 Animal Law Seminar (2)
Crystal, Perry
Survey of the treatment of animals in state, federal, and international law. Topics include the historical status of animals; federal statutes such as the Animal Welfare Act,