The Schedule and Courses

Although the experiences of the first semester were not entirely forgotten, most of us started the spring semester with some optimism.  The law school catalog listed this curriculum for the "Spring Semester of the First Year":

Criminal Justice Process (4 credits)

Regulation of Economic Activity: Contracts (3 credits)

Social Decision-Making: Non-Judicial  (3 credits)

Clinical Project/ Legal Method Seminar  (3 credits)

Student Workshop  (1 credit)

Legal Education and the Profession (1 credit)

TOTAL: 15 credits

This was the Catalog description of the Courses:

Criminal Justice Process (4)11 Cohen

An exploration, using actual or simulated problems, of the creation, rationales, enforcement, and effects of the criminal law. A major theme will be the tension between the need for protection against harmful deviant behavior, on the one hand, and the need to protect the rights of the accused, on the other. On the procedural side, considerable attention will be given to the first ten amendments to the Federal Constitution. Substantive topics will include crimes of interpersonal violence, crimes against property, victimless crimes and—at least by way of comparison—international war crimes. Students will be expected to develop a working knowledge of Hawaii's criminal justice system.

Regulation of Economic Activity: Contracts (3)11 Kiang

A critical examination of government intervention in "contractual" disputes—those in which someone seeks to transfer the economic costs of unrealized expectations to another party whose "promissory" behavior helped to create such expectations. This will involve a study of how "legally binding" contracts are created and enforced, and also an examination of the political-economic contexts or "market places" wherein contracts are made. An important goal of the course will be to provide a solid grounding in the basic general principles of American contract law. In addition, some attention will be given to the law governing particular types of contracts such as agreements for the sale of goods, construction contracts, and business franchise agreements. In order to develop a comparative perspective, some reference will be made to foreign and international contract law.

Social Decision-Making (3-3)Yr. Miller, Hood, Hopkins

This two-semester course will deal with the perennial constitutive issues of human social life: who should decide what questions, according to what procedures, utilizing what resources, provided by whom, with what effects, on whom? The objective will be to develop an ability to understand, influence, and improve the workings of the many decision-making institutions—"private" as well as "public"—which lawyers encounter in their daily work. A wide range of such institutions will be surveyed at long range, and some will be selected for intensive study. Each instance of intensive study will involve, among other things, identifying the persons and modes associated with the performance of various decision-making functions: informing, recommending, prescribing, invoking, applying, appraising, and terminating.  Considerable effort will be made to enrich the analysis with relevant material from fields such as decision theory, communications theory, social psychology, and systems analysis.

The second semester portion of the course, entitled "Non-Judicial Decision-Making", will treat constitutional and legislative decision-making institutions (local, national, and international).

It will also examine decision-making in private organizations such as political parties, universities, business corporations, labor unions, and community associations. Among other things, students will be expected to become familiar with federal constitutional law regarding judicial review and the separation of powers.

Clinical Project/Legal Method Seminar (3-3)Yr. Cohen, Gordon, Hopkins, Kiang, Miller

This seminar will provide closely supervised exposure to the everyday work of lawyers. It will also serve as the primary vehicle for synthesis and application of knowledge acquired in other courses, for skills development, and for psychological support. With respect to skills, each seminar instructor (working with the Law School's Librarian) will seek—among other things—to ensure that every student in his group quickly learns how to research and analyze statutes and judicial opinions. Each seminar group will consist of about 12 students, one faculty member, and a local attorney. Each group will undertake, hypothetically if not actually, to advise a different disputant in one or more current disputes. These might include, for example, a dispute involving land use and development, a criminal prosecution, or a contractual dispute concerning money owed on the purchase of an automobile. Each group will try to arrange meetings with its (hypothetical or actual) clients, technical experts, government officials, and others. It will plan and conduct library and field research.  It will draft pleadings, motions, briefs, agreements, legislation, etc., as appropriate. 

Student Workshop (l-l)Yr. Students

An opportunity for students to program part of their learning process and, in so doing, to experience and learn about problems of group decision-making. Students may choose to expose and examine law-related issues by a variety of devices including discussion and debate, audio-visual materials, or field experience—to mention but a few possibilities. They may or may not choose to utilize the services of law school faculty or other persons inside or outside the University. Minimal requirements for the award of academic credit will be determined by students, subject to faculty review.

Legal Education and the Profession (l-l)Yr. Hood

This course is intended to stimulate systematic reading, reflection, and debate concerning the following questions: 

1. What will and what should lawyers be doing five to twenty years from now, in what contexts, subject to what constraints, for what compensation, provided by whom?

2. What personal characteristics, intellectual equipment, and ethical norms should they have?

3. What are and what should be the objectives and methods of law students and faculties today?

The premise of the course is that law students, law teachers and lawyers should regularly examine and evaluate what they do.

How Did It All Unfold?

What could be as bad as the last exam of the first semester?

Criminal Justice Process: Well, this seemed fairly conventional.  There was a book/casebook.  But there was an "Introductory Block", copied handouts, about 70 pages. Most were on legal-sized paper that could not easily be 3-hole punched for notebooks or binders.  In fact, this was the only course that found a need for this inconvenient paper size.  There was some  potential for chaos - our "introduction" to criminal justice would be very "hands on".   The seminar groups were scheduled for many field trips which included, but not limited to,  ride-alongs with the Honolulu Police Department, to watch trials in the Hawaii Circuit Court and the Federal District Court, to visit the Puu Psychiatric Ward at Queen's Hospital and to tour the Honolulu Jail. 

An opinion from 1976:

"An introductory block of more modest dimensions greeted us second semester. Lasting only a week, a "touchie-feelie" approach to the Hawaiian criminal justice system made up with confusion what it lacked in length of time. Over the semester break, assignments to seminars had been made and the experience with Ben's course and his final caused a great deal of behind-the-scenes scrambling to stay out of his seminar, most often to no avail.

So with new seminar leaders and new classmates, we chased literally all over town, riding in patrol cars, visiting the jails, sitting in on courts, etc., etc. The highlight for a few was an all day/night visit to the Hawaii State Hospital, where the confinement proved to be a novel contrast to school. Or was it? In any event, it can probably be said that at any given minute of the week 18-25 January, at least one student was lost or in the wrong place. But how can you be two places at once when you're not anywhere at all?

The concept behind this immersion in the criminal justice system was undoubtedly noble, but perhaps a little naive. Somewhere was the premise that it was the students who were naive, and trusting of the criminal system and it was this exposure that would enlighten and shock us into crying out for reform and inspire us to protect the rights of the downtrodden.

Well, there were enough students who were cynical of the entire legal system to make this week an exercise in overkill and its attempt at proselytizing the liberal point of view a little heavy handed. But as confused and disorganized as this introductory block was, it was soon to become the highpoint of organization for the rest of the semester.

Marilyn Cohen was an eminently likable person and it was her personality and obvious sincerity that made almost everyone very patient with her course. The reaction to the semester's accomplishments is still mixed, but the majority viewpoint holds that the course was not a success. 

There is no doubt that we received an excellent exposure to the tactics of a defense counsel prior to trial, but aside from that and three lectures by Donald Gordon on criminal law, this course was the total exposure many of us would get not only to criminal trials but to any trial. The course was certainly a great opportunity to present the policy issues and the reality of the criminal justice process from beginning to end, but many of us lost interest about halfway through. 

Fortunately a number of our classmates in the third-year continued with other courses to fill the voids, but many of us may be ill-equipped to argue our own traffic tickets! At least we know who to call for advice...