KEEPING IT REAL: DEVELOPING A CULTURALLY AND PERSONALLY RELEVANT LEGAL WRITING CURRICULUM

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KEEPING IT REAL DEVELOPING A CULTURALLY AND
PERSONALLY RELEVANT LEGAL WRITING CURRICULUM

• Gail S. Stephenson
• Linda C. Fowler

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• As I learn from you,
• I guess you learn from me---
• although you're older---and white---
• and somewhat more free.
• Langston Hughes, Theme for English B

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DIVERSITY IN LAW SCHOOLS

• Required by ABA Standards 210 211 and AALS
  Bylaws Sections 6-1(v) 6-3(c)
• Types of diversity among law students
• Race
• Gender
• Age
• Religion
• Sexual orientation
• Socioeconomic background

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What is a culturally and personally relevant
curriculum?

• A curriculum that is culturally relevant
• provides instruction to students in a familiar
  sociocultural context and builds upon their
  diverse learning styles by integrating the
  learners cultural content
• includes language, customs, social norms, ways of
  doing and seeing things, methods of learning, and
  considers how people relate to others

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• A curriculum that is personally relevant
• uses the students ability to connect the course
  material to his prior experience
• connects the learning process to who they are,
  what they care about, and how they perceive and
  know
• is not tied simply to race or ethnicity
• considers learning styles and multiple
  intelligences

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Why is a relevant curriculum important?

• Improves academic success
• Enhances relationship between educator and
  student
• Empowers learners
• Provides equal learning opportunities
• Helps students prepare for practice in a
  multiethnic and pluralistic society

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Goals of a relevant curriculum

• Improve academic success through coursework that
  emphasizes the human purpose of what is being
  learned and its relationship to the students
  personal experiences
• Create the most conducive learning environment
  through trusting relationships between the
  students and educators
• Create an empowering environment
• Give equal opportunities to learn
• Prepare students for practice

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Designing a relevant curriculum

• Collaboration with colleagues
• Significant resource is fellow teachers,
  particularly if one is new to a law schools
  culture can learn about the students and
  culture
• Sharing teaching materials and writing problems

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Designing a relevant curriculum (contd)

• Collaboration with students
• Autobiographical essays by students
• Questionnaires completed by students (see sample
  questionnaire)
• Individual conferences with students, e.g., to
  discuss writing projects or during office hours

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Developing a relevant curriculum at SULC

• Discovering what was relevant to SULC students
• Autobiographical essays revealed much diversity
• Civil rights cases
• Familiar with south Louisiana culture
• Students developed their own relevant materials

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Legal Analysis is like grilling steaks
You need four elements
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• The Grill
• (Issue or facts)

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• The Steaks
• (The rule or law)

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• Seasoning
• (Analysis)

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• Fire
• (Conclusion)

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• If you leave out the seasoning, it may look good.

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• But this is what the taster will look like

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Other culturally relevant materials at SULC

• Food is big part of Louisiana culture
• Boudin (blood sausage) is popular Cajun food
• Legal writing problem used Louisiana statute that
  exempted establishments from health inspection if
  it heats or prepares boudin or sausage used for
  personal consumption

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Developing a personally relevant curriculum at
SULC

• Culturally relevant materials may also be
  personally relevanttry using local cases or
  cases involving local attorneys
• Incorporate current local events

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Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

• Every student at SULC affected
• Displaced, lost homes, lost jobs, or had friends
  and family living with them
• Increased traffic in Baton Rouge and pressure on
  infrastructure due to 230,000 evacuees
• This topic used to develop personally relevant
  materials
• Louisiana looting statute used for statutory
  analysis
• Fact pattern in post-hurricane Louisiana
  involving looting, burglary, and theft laws

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Non-traditional students

• Evening program at SULC has many non-traditional
  students
• Often older and have or had another career
• Areas of law personally relevant to those with
  prior career
• Torts (negligence, product and vicarious
  liability)
• Workers compensation
• Employment law
• May also be familiar with family law through
  personal experience

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Other personally relevant materials

• Discharge in bankruptcy of federally-guaranteed
  student loans
• Students showed particular interest in this topic
  and expressed strong opinions regarding the
  debtors situation (some for and others against
  the debtor)
• Discrimination cases (e.g., age, sex, race,
  disability)

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Learning styles and multiple intelligences

• Another consideration for relevant curricula
• Visual learners use classroom screen and board,
  handouts, and postings to class website
• Aural learners lectures, classroom discussion,
  small group work, and review sessions with
  teaching assistant
• Writing learners drafting exercises, both
  during and outside class
• Physical activity learners role-playing,
  practice oral arguments in class

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Learning styles and multiple intelligences
(contd)

• Using different modalities is also helpful in
  introducing new information. Examples
• Legal citation ALWD readings, lectures,
  practice citation quizzes on class website
  individually and with teaching assistant, quiz
  given in class
• Analysis of legal issues lecture, individual
  research, drafting outline of argument, in-class
  group work, role-playing

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Developing relevant curricula at your school

• Identify culture of your students and what may be
  personally relevant, using
• Records or admissions
• Autobiographical essay
• Questionnaire (see sample)
• Conferences with students
• Assignments completed by students
• Mission of your law school
• Newspapers

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Timeline for developing a relevant curriculum at
your school

• BEFORE THE SEMESTER Major assignments can be
  drafted using information from previous students,
  records and admissions, and your schools
  mission.
• DURING THE SEMESTER, using current students
  info
• Major assignments details, e.g., ethnic or
  racial identity of parties or location of event
  could be added
• Relevant analogies used in class and smaller
  assignments could be drafted

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Miller v. Amusement Enterprises, Inc., 259
F.Supp. 523 (E.D. La. 1965), revd en banc, 394
F.2d 342 (5th Cir. 1968).

• Baton Rouge from 1960s where black children were
  denied access to an amusement park called Fun
  Fair Park
• Federal district court ruled in favor of the
  amusement park and presented dry version of the
  events
• U.S. Fifth Circuit reversed trial court on
  rehearing en banc, giving longer version of the
  facts that starkly contrasted with trial court
  version

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Fun Fair Park was the only amusement park for
kids in the Baton Rouge area in the 1960s and
70s.

• The Miller case led to the integration of Fun
  Fair Park. These photos are from 1977.

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Fun Fair Park continued to be a popular place for
Baton Rouge kids in the 1980s.
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Compare and contrast

• Fun Fair operates eleven major mechanical rides
  for children, namely, the Train Ride, Roto-Whip,
  Ferris Wheel, Zoom Ride, Roller Coaster, Bumper
  Car Ride, Swinging Jim, Caterpillar Ride, Boat
  Ride, Track Turnpike, and Merry go-round. . . .
  Located on the premises is a small concession
  stand from which refreshments such as cold
  drinks, hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy, snow
  cones, ice cream, assorted sandwiches and coffee
  may be purchased.

• Fun Fair Park is an amusement park owned and
  operated by the defendant. . . . Defendant
  operates thereon a number of mechanical rides for
  the amusement of children.

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Compare and contrast

• Mrs. Patricia B. Miller, took her two children to
  Fun Fair Park, intending to use the ice skating
  facilities which were then in operation.

• Mrs. Miller, in response to Fun Fair's
  advertisement that Everybody come, took her two
  children, Daniel age 12 and Denise age 9, to the
  park to ice skate.

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Compare and contrast

• Upon learning that both of the children were
  Negroes, the attendant retrieved the skates and
  informed the plaintiffs that the facilities of
  Fun Fair Park were privately owned and were open
  for use by white people only.

• The manager snatched the skates off the counter
  and announced to Mrs. Miller that Fun Fair did
  not serve colored. The people standing in line
  waiting to rent skates began to giggle, and
  Denise, frightened and disappointed at not being
  allowed to skate, started crying. As Denise stood
  there crying others in line appeared to be
  amused. Mrs. Miller and her children quickly left
  the park.

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Johnnie Jones, Jr., a 1953 graduate of SULC,
represented the Millers. Mr. Jones still
practices in Baton Rouge.
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Walker v. City of Birmingham, 388 U.S. 307 (1967)

• Justice Stewarts majority opinion
• Some 300 or 400 people from among the onlookers
  followed in a crowd that occupied the entire
  width of the street and overflowed onto the
  sidewalks. Violence occurred. Members of the
  crowd threw rocks that injured a newspaperman and
  damaged a police motorcycle.

• Justice Brennans dissent
• The participants in both parades were in every
  way orderly the only episode of violence,
  according a police inspector, was rock throwing
  by three onlookers on Easter Sunday, after
  petitioners were arrested the three rock
  throwers were immediately taken into custody by
  the police.

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DEVELOPING RELEVANT CURRICULA

• Not difficult or time consuming
• Important in establishing rapport with students
  and in finding the best way to reach them and
  stimulate their interest in learning