COMM 317: assignments update

Hi everybody --

I'm going to announce this in COMM 150 and COMM 209, but please make an effort to get the word to your other classmates who aren't in those classes. I stand in awe of the SCI/Benedictine student grapevine, and I know you'll get the word around.

As you follow the links on the First Amendment webpage by University of Missouri-Kansas City law professor Doug Linder that I assigned Tuesday night, you'll find references to Josh Wolf. He's a freelance photographer who has been in jail for contempt of court since Sept. 22 for refusing to turn his film of a 2005 demonstration over to a grand jury. The Society of Professional Journalists has a timeline and an explanation of why they have raised $31,000 for Wolf's defense fund on its website.

In addition to the questions on Linder's page, be ready to discuss this one in class as well: What is it about the First Amendment that is so important that a guy would spend 170 days (as of today) defending it?

Wolf's case is important, and it is current -- i.e. it is happening now, and in the real world. See what else you can find before class about the facts of his case and the law that governs it. We will add it to the ongoing cases we are following.

Research Projects
Those of you who stayed for the entire class Tuesday night already know some of this, so I'll update you. Others will be able to get the background from students who were there.

While I don't have the details finalized yet, I intend to have the required research project count 25 percent of your final grade, 20 percent on a 10- to 12-page documented research paper and 5 percent on an oral presentation that you give during the last weeks of April. It will be on a court case or legal doctrine related to the First Amendment, ethical and/or intellectual property issues we study, and it will replace the written case briefs stipulated under "Means of Evaluation" in your syllabus.

So count on doing a documented research paper and a formal presentation of your findings in April. I will have more detailed instructions for you as soon as possible.