Using Film to Teach Law

At the Law and Film Conference at the University of Maryland School of Law last weekend, several law professors spoke about the ways in which they use film to teach their law courses.  For example, Margaret Russell at Santa Clara University of Law spoke about showing clips from the documentary entitled The Untold Story of Emmett Till and from the documentary entitled Soul of Justice: Thelton Henderson's American Journey.  Both were used to bring to life certain issues in her law courses.  The documentary about the Emmett Till case could be used, she suggested, to talk about jury composition and evidentiary burdens. In the wake of so many debates over Supreme Court nominees, Professor Russell discussed how she showed parts of the documentary about the Honorable Thelton Henderson to discuss what makes a good (or bad) judge. In particular, she played for the conference attendees a particularly illuminating clip from the film in which Judge Henderson and others speak about the reason Judge Henderson did not recuse himself from civil rights cases despite his profound involvement in the civil rights movement.  In a world where students are more easily engaged with the visual image and the screen (be it a computer screen or a movie or television screen), Professor Russell admitted that sometimes the best way to communicate with students is to mobilize the visual language with which they are most at ease.

Professor Marilyn Berger from Seattle University School of Law spoke about her film Lessons from Woburn about the case (Anderson et al v. W.R. Grace et al) on which the book and film The Civil Action were based.  This film is an interactive documentary that students and the professor can explore together to review documents and testimony from the legal case as well as testimonials and other information that were not part of the legal saga.  Meant to be used in a civil procedure course, the film discusses the bifurcation of the trial, ethical issues faced by the attorneys, procedural and subject matter issues raised by the trial, as well as juriprudential questions that students might consider in evaluating the case and its result as a whole. 

These presentations at the conference got me thinking about the case books that have come out in the past several years that include DVDS or video supplements to enhance classroom discussion.  I believe George Fisher's book on evidence includes such a supplement. And I think Lempert, Gross and Liebman's evidence casebook does as well.  I wonder how many other casebooks could be enhanced with visual supplements. I can think of a dozen film clips that I would like to show in my constitutional law class (I already show clips from Eyes on the Prize, Tying the Knot, Unfinished Business (on the Japanese Internment Camps during WWII), and Seizing Power: The Steel Seizure Case Revisited).  I would love to hear what other films people can think of that would be particularly illustrative or thought provoking for core law courses?

Comments

[Fiona]

Well for starters 'Twelve Angry Men' of course to talk about how juries deliberate, particularly in jurisdictions (unlike the USA) where jury research is prohibited

Also the clip from 'Chicago' where Richard Gere parodies the trial as a circus - the Razzle Dazzle - just as something to make students in advocacy classes think about what lawyers actually do and the differences between factual, legal and presented truths

Actually there's an article from David Langwallner on using film in law teaching in the Independent Law Review (Ireland) which is at available at this link: http://www.claruspress.ie/ILR%20Vol%201%20Issue%203.pdf

(sorry - don't know how to make the links pretty!)

[non]

Rule of Perpetuities scene in Body Heat. It's a classic

[Hirbod Rashidi]

I have used the following in my criticism of the "penumbra" approach to constitutional interpretation:

In the Australian comedy “The Castle,” the government, in an airport expansion project, was attempting to exercise its “compulsory acquisition” authority to purchase the Kerrigan home. Darryl Kerrigan, the patriarch of the family, believing in the adage that “a man’s home is his castle,” decided to fight the government.

At the initial court hearing, the following exchange takes place between the judge and the solicitor, Dennis Denuto, hired by Kerrigan to represent him:

Denuto: “It’s the Constitution of Australia. This is a blatant violation of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia. And when it comes to violations they don’t come any bigger.”

Judge: “What section of the Constitution has been breached?”

Denuto: “What section? There is no one section. It’s just the vibe of the thing.”

Judge: “I am afraid, Mr. Denuto, you have to be more specific.”

Denuto: “I was just starting general and then getting more specific with it. Just one moment please. [Thumbing through the constitution.] It’s all part it. This is what I’m getting at. That’s my point. It’s the vibe of it.”

Judge: “Do you have a precedent that supports this vibe?”

Denuto: “Yes! Yes I do! Just one moment.”

Denuto cites an irrelevant decision and continues: “Again it’s the vibe of it.”

After a sidebar, Denuto says: “In summing-up, it’s the Constitution…it’s justice, it’s law, it’s the vibe and… no – that’s it, it’s the vibe. I rest my case.”

After a short recess, the court finds in favor of the government.

Regardless of its applicability to the classroom, the movie is well worth checking out!

[Roger]

Are there any copywrite laws violated by using film clips in training or classroom sessions. Does anyone have any links to guidance?

[Jordan Retro 8]

Just as the saying goes that you are never too old to learn. I believe it. At first keeping reading all the way can enrich our leisure and knowledge. We can learn a lot from reading. Do you think so?

[bridesmaiddresses]

Do not get your girls wear a plain white bridesmaid dress on stage in order to avoid distracting.
http://www.weddingdressmart.com

[Fannie]

Fell out of bed feelnig down. This has brightened my day!