This course will consider the federal rules of civil procedure (and comparable state procedural rules) through the lens of lawsuits involving the orbit of the former President of the United States (FPOTUS). Although the title of this course includes the word “politics” this will not be a partisan course. Class discussions will not involve elections or political parties. Instead, the focus of the course will be on the ways civil procedural rules were and continue to be key in lawsuits involving the FPOTUS, the January 6 Committee, and other civil defendants who served in the prior administration or otherwise are linked to the FPOTUS.
If you hated civil procedure, this is not the course for you. The class will discuss disputes ranging from service of process, affirmative defenses, motions to dismiss, sanctions, and the range of entities that can resolve disputes in civil litigation (masters, magistrates, judges, arbitrators).
Students will spend the first half of each class session in small group discussions. So if you do not like working in small groups and you do not want to spend time talking about civil procedural rules, this is not the class for you.
Course materials will be of diverse types and may include media clips, one popular press book, court pleadings, law review articles, and news articles (or blog entries). There are no exams for this class and evaluation is based on a series of short written assignments and Canvas postings.
Dickerson, Mechele 