Course Syllabus

Fall 2026  - O’Neill/SPEA, V339, Section #6132 -  Legal History and Public Policy - Syllabus

 

 

Contact Information

 

Instructor:       Paul Helmke, Professor of Practice and Director of Civic Leaders Center

Office:              Civic Leaders Center Office - Briscoe A (Gucker) #122A (or SPEA 433) 

Student hours:   By appointment (best times on Mondays or Wednesdays just before class, or after 11AM on most Tuesdays), or stop in if my door is open. 

Response time: I check messages regularly and will try to respond within 24 hours unless a quicker response is requested.

 

Email: phelmke@indiana.edu

Office Phone: 812-855-2275 / Cell Phone: 260-466-5066

Zoom:  https://iu.zoom.us/my/phelmke

 

X (formerly Twitter): @PaulHelmke

Instagram: @paulhelmke

Facebook: Paul Helmke

Linked In: linkedin.com/in/paulhelmke

 

About the Course

 

Class meeting days and times: Mondays & Wednesdays, 2:20-3:35PM

Class location: Briscoe (BQ) Center Bldg. “Student Activities Room” (tile side) - C-110

Course prerequisites and co-requisites: Law and Public Affairs (V184)   

Credits: 3

Required texts and materials:  

 

- Quarrels That Have Shaped the Constitution, edited by John A. Garraty, Revised Edition 

            (1988), ISBN 0-06-132084-6 (pbk.). 

 

-Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, U.S. Constitution, court cases, readings and other materials which you will need to look up, or which may be posted to Canvas under “Files”.

 

Optional Texts:

We will have a number of readings from the following books in Canvas which may also be available from Amazon or other sources:

 

Guns, Democracy, and the Insurrectionist Idea, by Joshua Horowitz and Casey Anderson, University of Michigan Press (2009), ISBN-13: 978-0-472-03370-6 (pbk.)

 

A Necessary Evil, by Garry Wills, Simon & Schuster (1999), ISBN 0-684-84489-3

 

Course Description (from University Bulletin): This course will cover a specific policy issue in American history (such as race relations or political protest/dissent) during specific time periods and focus on the role played by the U.S. Supreme Court in dealing with that issue.)

 

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“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” – John F. Kennedy (March 13, 1962)

 

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” – Frederick Douglass (August 3, 1857)

 

"...in America the law is king." Thomas Paine, Common Sense - January 1776

 

What do we do when we disagree with a decision or action taken by our government? How do we push for change? Is violence ever justified? While the U. S. Constitution values “freedom of expression” and “due process of law,” concerns for national security and the preservation of internal order have led to legislation and executive actions that limit these civil liberties. Court cases reviewing these conflicts have supported different values at different times for different reasons. This course will examine how the American legal system has dealt with political dissent and protest, and managed change, from the 1770s through the 1970s, and relate this to current issues as well. The focus will be on arguments for and against revolution, insurrection, nullification, secession, civil disobedience as well as the role of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights (particularly the First and Second Amendments) and subsequent Amendments during times when national security and internal order appear to be threatened. We will discuss what has worked best to bring change, and what hasn’t.

Readings and class discussions will deal with controversies arising from the American Revolution; Alien and Sedition Acts; opposition to the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and Vietnam War; the “Red Scare” and McCarthy Era; slavery; and the Civil Rights, Women’s, Gay Rights, and Environmental movements. We may watch and discuss video clips about different protest movements and bring in speakers with experience from different protest movements.

 

I’ll draw on my experiences as a student activist in the 1960s as well as my 21 years of active legal practice, 12 years as mayor, and 5 years as head of a national advocacy group, to supplement the cases, readings, documentaries, speakers, and participatory activities to help the class better understand how this history and the surrounding legal and policy debates are still relevant today.

 

Course goal:

By the end of this course, students will be able to understand and explain how the American legal, governmental an political system deals with change, protest, and dissent, and the continuing conflict between the civil liberties outlined in the U. S. Constitution and real/perceived threats to the survival/security of the nation and preservation of public order.  More importantly, students will be able to evaluate the successes and failures of the past, and analyze the role played by the U. S. legal system in striking a balance between these competing values in American history.

 

Learning outcomes:

To achieve the goal of this class section, students should finish the semester being able to: research and analyze court cases and theories dealing with protest and dissent throughout U. S. history and the stories and strategies behind those cases; understand the Constitutional implications of various strategies for protest and dissent; and apply the lessons from past cases and conflicts to current day situations.

 

 

Assignment/Grading Weights

                                                                                                                                                                              

Weekly Assignments                                                                          15% 

Memos/Participation/Attendance                                                    20%                                      

Midterm Exam                                                                                     20%                                               

Major Paper                                                                                         20%

Final Exam                                                                                           25%                 

                                                                                                 Total    100%

 

 

 

 

 

Assignment Descriptions

 

Weekly Assignments – 15% of grade (15 points) – Each week there will be an online reflection or discussion assignment related to that week’s reading, discussions, or other activities.

Memos/Participation/Attendance– – 20% of grade (20 points) – This class is built around in-class discussions. You are expected to attend class sessions if at all possible and be an active participant in class discussions. Short quizzes may be assigned during the semester and in-class notecard assignments may be given at any time and will count toward your participation points.

You will be assigned an “Iterative Writing Assignment” at some point during the semester. You may be assigned at least one memo on an assigned topic and a paper topic memo to be completed by a future class.  

Attendance may be taken on all or just selected dates.  In order to get full points for attendance, you are expected to arrive on time and stay for the entire class unless I approve a late entrance or early arrival. If you are unable to attend class for some reason, let me and our TA know ASAP before (or after, if you are unable to contact me before). I will likely to consider the absence and failure to participate that day as excused as long as you have a good reason such as: illness that is too severe or contagious for the student to attend class (documented if appropriate and possible); participation in university-sanctioned curricular and extracurricular activities (advance notice required for these per university guidelines); observance of religious holidays (this form must be submitted prior to the anticipated absence as outlined later in this Syllabus); participation in legal proceedings or administrative procedures that require your presence; required participation in military duty; death or major illness in a student's immediate family. Students who want to avoid getting zero points for a missed short quiz or notecard assignment on a day when their absence is excused may be allowed to submit a makeup memo.

Excused absences of more than one day may require the student to work with me on options to keep from falling behind in the class. For example, we may set up synchronous Zoom links, or class recordings, for students unable to attend in person for legitimate excused absences. Alternative assignments or make-ups may also be offered on a case-by-case basis.

Exams – 45% of grade (45 points) (20% for Midterm and 25% for Final). There will be two exams. They will cover material from the readings, lectures, discussions, class activities and class assignments. Some of the exam questions may come directly from the lectures and class discussion and may not be found in any of the assigned materials; others may come from the material but not necessarily be material covered in class. The exams may be comprised of any or all of the following: true-false, multiple choice, short answer and essay questions. The exams will likely be “open note” (which we will discuss in more detail as the exam nears) for an in-class exam or “open book” for an online exam. You will have the entire class to complete the exam. There will be no make-up exams unless there is an extreme circumstance. In such a circumstance, I will need to be contacted via email prior to the exam, and the student must document the “extreme” situation.  I will decide if the reason warrants missing an exam and may give a grade of zero if it does not. Different questions may be asked on any make-up exam.  Students who fail to take an exam will receive a grade of zero for that exam. 

Major Paper/Critiques – 20% of grade (20 points) -Your paper should focus on a policy struggle in U.S. history, the legal and strategic issues for the parties involved and the implications of that history to the present day. Papers in the past have covered topics like voting rights, environmental activism, gay rights, women's rights, non-violence, anti-war activities, civil rights, gun control, gun rights, anti-tobacco, anti-alcohol, and similar issues. Papers should be 5-7 pages in length, exclusive of sources, double-spaced.

Students may be asked to make a short (2 minutes or so) presentation about their paper, alone or with students who wrote on a similar topic and be prepared to answer questions about the paper and the topics covered. Following the presentations, students will be asked to comment on the other presentations in the Weekly Assignment. Presentations will be graded and become part of your score for this assignment.

Late Assignments – Electronic and hardcopy versions of all memos and papers assigned prior to class are required to be submitted prior to or at the start of class on the due date. Alternative due dates will be granted only in the event of an extreme circumstance.  All communications regarding alternative due dates must be sent via email from you explaining the reason behind the request; you must receive approval from me confirming your extension before the due date.   Unless I have agreed in advance to an alternative due date, the assignment grade may be reduced by a full letter grade (10 percentage points) for each day an assigned memo, paper or submission is late. Late papers must be emailed to me.  Assignments that are turned more than two days late may receive zero points.

 

Extra Credit Opportunities – Up to 3 extra credit points -During the semester, I may make extra credit opportunities available to the class. Generally, these opportunities will entail your attendance at an on-campus event relevant to the class and a 2-3 page memo from you submitted on Canvas within three days after the event summarizing what was said, what you agreed and disagreed with and why, and how the event was relevant to our class readings and discussions. Each extra credit opportunity has the potential of adding up to one full percentage point to your final grade. (In other words, if your regular class points at the end of the semester add up to 89, a ‘B+”, a strong extra credit submission worth one full point would bring the grade up to a 90, and “A- “). You will not be allowed to submit more than three extra credit submissions. The extra credit points will be added to the score at the end of the semester. Do not expect grades to be “rounded up” - extra credit points are made available to help you get your grade to the next level when your score is close.

 

Grading Scale for Semester:

Points                                   Grade

97 – 100                                        A+

93 – 96.9                                     A

90 – 92.9                                     A-

87 – 89.9                                     B+

83 – 86.9                                     B

80 – 82.9                                     B-

77 – 79.9                                     C+

73 – 76.9                                     C

70 – 72.9                                     C-

67 – 69.9                                     D+

63 – 66.9                                     D

60 – 62.9                                     D-

00 – 59.9                                     F       

     

IU’s grading policies: https://policies.iu.edu/policies/aca-66-grades-and-grading/index.html  

 

How much time should you be spending on this class: This is a standard 3-credit semester length class, so you are expected to spend an average of 6 or more hours outside of class per week on reading, studying, assignments, etc.           

 

 

Important Dates to Remember

First Day of Class	Monday – August 24, 2026
Labor Day – No Class	Monday – September 7, 2026
Exam #1	Wednesday – October 7, 2026
Major Paper Due	Wednesday- November 18, 2026
Thanksgiving Break – No Classes	Monday & Wednesday- November 23 & 25, 2026
Final Exam	Monday, December 14, 2026, 12:40-2:40PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

SYLLABUS DISCLAIMER

 

The above schedule is subject to limited change in the event of extenuating circumstances. Whenever a change is made, students will be notified as early as possible during class and/or via Canvas about the change(s).

 

 

O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs

Student Honor Code 

 

Introduction -The O’Neill School takes matters of honesty and integrity seriously.  We expect O’Neill students will, at all times, maintain academic integrity and civil and professional standards of conduct. 

 

Scope - O’Neill’s Student Honor Code applies to all courses and programs offered by O’Neill, and to all students who participate in O’Neill classes and programs, regardless of whether students are admitted to O’Neill. Students studying at O’Neill are expected to continue their commitment to ethical behavior in all their endeavors, including, but not limited to, coursework inside and outside of O’Neill, internships, community service, and overseas study. 

 

O’Neill’s Student Honor Code incorporates IU’s Code of Student Right, Responsibilities, & Conduct and extends to matters of civility and professional conduct, including, expectations about class attendance, punctuality, participation in class, and decorum in class and at other school functions.

 

Academic Conduct Requirements  

 

All students enrolled in O’Neill courses are subject to the academic misconduct provisions found in the IU Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, & Conduct.  

Academic misconduct is defined as any activity that tends to undermine the academic integrity of the institution.

The IU Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, & Conduct lists and defines many types of academic misconduct, including cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, interference, violation of course rules, and facilitating academic dishonesty.   

Academic misconduct includes the use of any technology or assistance, including AI, that is not permitted by the instructor. 

 

Civility and Professional Conduct Requirements

 

O’Neill requires that all students treat others with mutual respect and behave professionally in the classroom and during all academic and non-academic activities.

 

These civility and professional conduct requirements foster an appropriate atmosphere inside and outside the classroom:

 

• Students must act in accordance with the O’Neill School mission and values. 
• Students must regularly attend and be fully prepared for class, including completing readings. 
• Students must not behave in a way that interrupts or distracts from teaching or learning.  For example, students must be punctual in their arrival to class and be present and attentive for the duration of the class. They must not sleep, do work for another class, or wander in and out of the classroom, pack up, or leave class early (unless an emergency exists).
• Students must abide by the course policy regarding use of electronic devices in the classroom, including a requirement that no electronics are allowed or that students are not permitted to use devices for non-class related purposes.
• Students must responsibly participate in class activities and during team meetings for course assignments. 
• Students must attend scheduled meetings with faculty or staff, events for which they have RSVPed, interviews with prospective employers, and student organization meetings.  
• Students must address faculty members, other students, and others appropriately and with respect, whether in person, in writing, or in electronic communications.
• Students must show tolerance and respect for others. 
• Students must practice respect and responsible stewardship of the physical resources of the school, refraining from destroying or defacing school property, integrating practices of sustainability, and contributing to a clean and orderly physical environment in all buildings, classrooms, offices, and meeting spaces.   
• Students must comply with the personal misconduct responsibilitieswithin the IU Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, & Conduct.

 

 

Reporting 

 

Students must abide by the O’Neill Student Honor Code themselves and hold their peers to the same standards. Students should report suspected instances of academic, civility, or professional misconduct to the instructor of the course. Students should report suspected instances of personal misconduct to the IU Office of Student Conduct. 

 

 

 

Use of generative AI (such as ChatGPT) in this class.  Using AI to assist in completing assignments in this class is prohibited.  If you do use AI, you will be committing plagiarism* and will be subject to penalties in this class and sanctions by Indiana University.  You are permitted to use the free version of Grammarly and Microsoft Word’s spelling and grammar tool.   

 

WARNING: Submitting any questions, assignments, notes, slides, or other instructor-produced course materials into Generative AI without permission is a violation of the faculty member’s exclusive rights and will be reported to the Dean of Students as academic misconduct.  

 

*Plagiarism: Plagiarism is defined as presenting someone else’s work, including the work of other students, as one’s own. Any ideas or materials taken from another source for either written or oral use must be fully acknowledged, unless the information is common knowledge. https://studentcode.iu.edu/responsibilities/academic-misconduct.html. (emphasis added).

 

In addition, you should not use significant portions of work you have prepared and written for other classes or projects without my advance approval and some indication in the paper or memo that such material had been previously submitted elsewhere.

 

Course Materials – Instructor’s Exclusive Rights: 

 

The faculty member teaching this course holds the exclusive right to distribute, modify, post, and reproduce course materials, including all written materials, study guides, lectures, assignments, exercises, and exams. While you are permitted to take notes on the online materials and lectures posted for this course for your personal use, you are not permitted to re-post in another forum, upload to AI, distribute, reproduce content from this course, or sell the instructor’s course materials (including notes and study guides) without the express written permission of the faculty member. 

 

Violations of this policy will be reported to the Dean of Students as academic misconduct (violation of course rules). Sanctions for academic misconduct may include a failing grade on the assignment for which the notes/study guides are being sold, a reduction in your final course grade, or a failing grade in the course, among other possibilities.  

 

Additionally, you should know that selling a faculty member’s course using IU email, or via Canvas may also constitute a violation of IU information technology and IU intellectual property policies; additional consequences may result. 

 

Course Withdrawals:

.

 

The auto-W deadline is October 25, 2026 (Sunday). This is the last day to Withdraw with an Automatic W. After the auto-W deadline, withdrawal will be significantly limited, and you will need permission to withdraw and must meet requirements established by O’Neill.

 

Students who stop attending class without properly withdrawing from the class may receive a grade of F. It is important to withdraw from a course within specified timeframe. Poor performance in a course is not grounds for a late withdrawal

 

 

Counseling and Psychological Services 

 

For information about services offered to students by CAPS:  http://healthcenter.indiana.edu/counseling/index.shtml 

 

TimelyCare

 

Indiana students have free, 24/7 access to virtual mental health care services with TimelyCare. Students do not need insurance to access TimelyCare services. https://www.iu.edu/mental-health/find-resources/timely-care.html#0

 

Religious Accommodation Requests

 

The "Request for Accommodation for Religious Observances" form must be submitted by the student to the professor no later than two weeks prior to the anticipated absence.  A separate form must be submitted for each absence and for each course. Faculty do not have to consider accommodations for the purpose of allowing students to travel away from Bloomington for religious observance.  Information about the policy is found here: https://vpfaa.indiana.edu/resources/religious-observances-information.html. 

 

Accessible Educational Services (formerly Disability Services for Students) 

 

Securing accommodations for a student with disabilities is a responsibility shared by the student, the instructor, and the AES Office. For information about support services or accommodations available to students with disabilities, and for the procedures to be followed by students and instructors: https://studentlife.indiana.edu/care-advocacy/iub-aes/index.html  

 

Sexual Harassment  

As your instructor, one of my responsibilities is to help create a safe learning environment on our campus. Title IX and our own Sexual Misconduct policy prohibit sexual misconduct.  If you have experienced sexual misconduct, or know someone who has, the University can help. 

 

If you are seeking help and would like to talk to someone confidentially, you can make an appointment with:

• The Sexual Assault Crisis Service (SACS) at 812-855-8900
• Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at 812-855-5711
• Confidential Victim Advocates (CVA) at 812-856-2469
• IU Health Center at 812-855-4011

 

For more information about available resources:  http://stopsexualviolence.iu.edu/help/index.html.

 

It is also important to know that federal regulations and University policy require me to promptly convey any information about potential sexual misconduct known to me to our campus’ Deputy Title IX Coordinator or IU’s Title IX Coordinator.  In that event, they will work with a small number of others on campus to ensure that appropriate measures are taken and resources are made available to the student who may have been harmed.  Protecting a student’s privacy is of utmost concern, and all involved will only share information with those that need to know to ensure the University can respond and assist.  I encourage you to visit http://stopsexualviolence.iu.edu/help/index.html to learn more.

 

IU Culture Centers: https://studentlife.indiana.edu/communities/culture-centers/index.html