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Reflecting on the Lessons Learned in this Class

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Reflecting on the Lessons Learned in this Class

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When I signed up for Introduction to Law before the semester began, I had virtually no idea about the American legal system, and how it influences our lives, particularly when we are confronted with a situation in which we need professional help and must make decisions that will affect our future.

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"The study of law qualifies a [wo]man to be useful to self, to neighbors, and to the public." (Unknown)

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I will be honest, this quotation made me curious, so I expanded my research, and according to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, it is at least believed that this statement came from a letter from the third President of the United States.

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Jefferson's Letter to Thomas Mann Randolph

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Jefferson's Letter to Thomas Mann Randolph

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On May 30th, 1790, Thomas Jefferson, who was one of the Founding Fathers, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third President of the United States, wrote a letter to a man by the name of Thomas Mann Randolph. Randolph would later serve as the Representative and as the Governor of Virginia. In his letter, Jefferson highlighted the significance of the study of law, pointing out that it "is useful in a variety of points of view. it qualifies a man to be useful to himself, to his neighbors, & to the public."

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I remember when I was in Secondary School in Germany, which is comparable to High School. In the evenings, I would watch television shows that are related to crime, similar to Navy C.I.S. or Criminal Minds. I developed a sense of fascination for mysterious cases, how they are solved, and to be able to establish my own theories as I followed along the case.

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However, what I did not know at that time was that criminal cases are not the only situations in which the world of law gets involved.

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In this particular way, the lessons that I learned throughout this semester in this course gave me a better idea of the broad range of legal cases, especially looking back at Chapter Two: Sources of Law. As I learned, there is a fundamental difference between civil law and criminal law, as civil law “deals with harm to an individual,” whereas criminal law is defined by “harm to society as a whole.”

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I had the great opportunity to engage in discussions with my classmates on a regular basis, which gave everyone of us the chance to exchange viewpoints on certain cases, and to specifically address a number of important issues with respect to law. When I was in High School, my teachers would often have us work in groups or pairs, which is a very effective way to learn because it increases students’ motivations, thereby enhancing their skill development.

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My favorite discussion comes from Discussion Question #1, in which we were asked whether the United States Supreme Court in our opinion reached the right decision in regards to the Matal v. Tam case, which involved an Asian-American rock band that had chosen a rather controversial name - a name that is potentially offensive towards people of Asian ethnicity.

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The court ruled unanimously that the band had the right to use that name, and that the so-called “disparagement clause” would not apply, and so, "The Slants" were allowed to keep their title.

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This is another lesson that changed my understanding of the importance of the separation of powers, and while I personally disagree with the ruling, I still recognize that this particular balance of powers is vital, especially when it comes to the question of the constitutionality of a certain issue.

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In conclusion, I reflect on this course and the entire semester with satisfaction and gratitude. Satisfaction because I learned more about the discipline of law than I had expected before the start of the semester, and gratitude because I once again recognize the important role that our teachers and professors play in educating their students and always striving to ensure that students leave school one day with confidence and preparation for their future. For the future, I look forward to using the knowledge that I gained in this course, and to expand my knowledge as times goes on.

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Thomas Jefferson saw the system of law as an important judicial opposition to tyranny, and a firm stand against unfair trials. Because he was rather skeptical towards judicial authority, and remained so, there should be a system in which judges focus on the will of the people by interpreting laws, which is ultimately what the Supreme Court was established to do.

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While these television shows are not based on real events, they do reflect the world of law and several types of cases very well, in my opinion, because authorities and investigators are often confronted with situations in which a particular case is not so straight-forward, and as we all know, there even are cases that are several decades old, and still have not been solved to this day.