The Legal Process Project corresponds to the following course objectives:
(II) Tasks
(a) Analysis of the Constitution
There are five (5) tasks for the Legal Process Project, as follows:
Legal Process Project Tasks:
(1) Analysis of the Constitution
Read and analyze the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Choose the institutional power and the personal right you believe to be the most important, and explain why; choose the institutional power and the personal right you would remove, and explain why; and add a power and a right that you would include, and explain why (two to four pages, double-spaced).
(2) Homeland Security Legislative Issues
Write a (4-6 page double spaced) legislative analysis of only 1 of the following bills from the 114th Congress. Your analysis should include consideration of the:
Pick only 1 from the following:.
Public Law 114-268 First Responder Anthrax Preparedness Act
(3) Identification of Two Pre-9/11 Homeland Security Events
As we study this new concept of “homeland security,” we quickly learn that threats to national security are not new. In fact, the United States faced major threats to its existence even before it was officially a nation. Identify and describe two such events in U.S. history that occurred prior to September 11, 2001, and explain why this event/threat was similar to current homeland security events.( Two pages double space)
(4) Legal Research Exercise
Beginning with Executive Order (EO) 13769 signed on January 21, 2017, analyze Trump’s travel ban in terms of the Supreme Court decisions, district court decisions, congressional actions, and presidential revision of the EO on March 6, 2017. Your paper should clearly discuss the EO’s possible impact on the National Security agenda of protecting citizens from foreign national terrorists while evaluating agency implementation, and the role federal, state, local, and tribal governments to support your argument. All requirements of prompt and format must be met to receive full credit.
Format:
(e) Statute Draft
For this task, you need to identify the next great idea in homeland security. Articulate and format your idea as the introduction to a new legislative act. Below are a few paragraphs from the USA PATRIOT Act as an example of how to format the task:
AN ACT
To deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE–This Act may be cited as the “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001.”
TITLE I—ENHANCING DOMESTIC SECURITY AGAINST TERRORISM
SEC. 101. COUNTERTERRORISM FUND.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT; AVAILABILITY–There is hereby established in the Treasury of the United States a separate fund to be known as the “Counterterrorism Fund,” amounts in which shall remain available without fiscal year limitation—
(1) to reimburse any Department of Justice component for any costs incurred in connection with—
(A) reestablishing the operational capability of an office or facility that has been damaged or destroyed as the result of any domestic or international terrorism incident;
(B) providing support to counter, investigate, or prosecute domestic or international terrorism, including, without limitation, paying rewards in connection with these activities; and
(C) conducting terrorism threat assessments of Federal agencies and their facilities; and
(2) to reimburse any department or agency of the Federal Government for any costs incurred in connection with detaining in foreign countries individuals accused of acts of terrorism that violate the laws of the United States.
(b) NO EFFECT ON PRIOR APPROPRIATIONS–Subsection (a) shall not be construed to affect the amount or availability of any appropriation to the Counterterrorism Fund made before the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 102. SENSE OF CONGRESS CONDEMNING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ARAB AND MUSLIM AMERICANS.
(a) FINDINGS–Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, and Americans from South Asia play a vital role in our Nation and are entitled to nothing less than the full rights of every American.
(2) The acts of violence that have been taken against Arab and Muslim Americans since the September 11, 2001, attacks against the United States should be and are condemned by all Americans who value freedom.
(3) The concept of individual responsibility for wrongdoing is sacrosanct in American society, and applies equally to all religious, racial, and ethnic groups.
(4) When American citizens commit acts of violence against those who are, or are perceived to be, of Arab or Muslim descent, they should be punished to the full extent of the law.
(5) Muslim Americans have become so fearful of harassment that many Muslim women are changing the way they dress to avoid becoming targets.
(6) Many Arab Americans and Muslim Americans have acted heroically during the attacks on the United States, including Mohammed Salman Hamdani, a 23-year-old New Yorker of Pakistani descent, who is believed to have gone to the World Trade Center to offer rescue assistance and is now missing.
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS–It is the sense of Congress that—
(1) the civil rights and civil liberties of all Americans, including Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, and Americans from South Asia, must be protected, and that every effort must be taken to preserve their safety;
(2) any acts of violence or discrimination against any Americans be condemned; and
(3) the Nation is called upon to recognize the patriotism of fellow citizens from all ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds.
