This fall, I'll be teaching a new course at the William and Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Here's the description of Property Rights: Law and Theory (Law 608) from the course catalog:
Property rights and property theory have been essential components of Anglo-American law for centuries, and the protection of the right of private property ownership is one of the foundations on which the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the post-Civil War Amendments are built. In more recent times, however, property law has taken on a new role, and has been viewed differently than in the past, especially in light of the development of environmental law and the evolving concept of public trust.Property Rights Law and Theory will focus on the history, policy, and, to some extent, the politics of property law, property rights, and related legal topics. We will examine how the right of private property was developed in common and constitutional law, the relationship of property rights to other civil rights, the role of federal and state courts in protection of property rights, how private property squares with environmental law, and the proper “place” of property rights in the modern administrative state. Included in this will be a healthy dose of practical lawyering and analysis, including the study of recent (and ongoing) on-point U.S. Supreme Court cases.
As a colleague wrote, tongue firmly in cheek: "Not since John Marshall, Thomas Jefferson and George Wythe to name but a few studied in the Wren Building have property rights been taken so seriously at America’s first law school and second oldest college!"
But seriously, this should be a lot of fun. I hope we get a good turnout. If any students at W&M are reading this, be sure to register. We'll learn stuff.
As for the pic above, it's John Marshall's shoe on the statue of Marshall and Wythe which stands outside the front entrance to the law school. Why is his shoe untied? A free prize for anyone who can tell me the answer.
