About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

4 Law Tchr. 1 (1996-1997)

handle is hein.journals/lawteaer4 and id is 1 raw text is: tI i . THIE LAW EACHER GONZAGA UNIVERSITY Institute for Law School Teaching Fall 1996 Poetry in commotion Katko v. Briney and the bards of first-year Torts By Andrew J McClurg During a classroom discussion of Katko v. Briney, the drifted to the opposite page where the Brineys stood in front infamous Iowa spring gun case, a first-year Torts of their tragic farmhouse: grim, unforgiving, winter parkas student unknowingly taught me an important lesson drawn tightly around their unattractive faces. about the stultifying effect of the Socratic method on Who was I to say that Marvin Katko's good looks did not creative thinking. help him win the case? The more I thought about it, the more In Katko, Marvin Katko sued Edward and Bertha Briney plausible it seemed. Investigation disclosed a large body of after he broke into their research demonstrating unoccupied farmhouse intent that physically attractive on stealing their property and Many of us like to think wefoster a vibrant people enjoy many ended up losing a portion of classroom learning environment, but mostly advantages over their less his leg to a shotgun wired to beautiful counterparts. the bedroom door. The jury wefool ourselves. It is easy to confuse a Learned Hand said, awarded Katko substantial successful bag of compensatory and punitive damages. The Brineys had to auction 80 acres of their farm to pay the judgment. The reason Katko won? The law values life over property. Or at least I always thought that was the reason until a student named Fufa Fullerton set me straight. It happened three years ago on a sweltering September afternoon during the last dog days of Arkansas' interminable summer. Ms. Fullerton, a mature woman who attended Smith College back in the '50s, was three weeks into her law school career. I called on her and asked her to explain how Marvin Katko -a felon! - could possibly have prevailed over the poor Brineys. She pointed resolutely to the photographs of the parties that are included in the Prosser casebook and said in her native Arkansas accent, I think the plaintiff won because he's a hunk. Straining to be heard above the laughter of her classmates, I commented that her perspective on the case was interesting and novel, then moved with warp speed to another student who, mercifully, gave me the right answer: Defending property never justifies the use of deadly force. Good boy. However, back in my office preparing for the next day's class I came across Marvin Katko's photograph and studied it closely for the first time. There he was: penetrating blue eyes, dimpled chin, great head of hair, full lips hinting of a seductive smile. Good Lord! Fufa Fullerton was right. Katko was the spitting image of a young Paul Newman. My eyes tr icks with vibrance. Juries are not leaves swayed by every breath, but perhaps a wink from Katko's limpid eyes was enough to do the trick. My rumination about Katko v. Briney started me thinking more generally about the suffocating environment the Socratic method imposes on original expression. Episodes like the one I experienced with Katko are not uncommon. Many of us like to believe we foster a vibrant classroom learning environment, but mostly we fool ourselves. It is easy to confuse a successful bag of teaching tricks with vibrance. True vibrance would require an open mind, risk taking, spontaneity, inconsistency in presentation, and a relaxed freedom to speak openly, but these ingredients are missing from most law school classes. On the surface, a Socratic teaching regime would appear to be an excellent way to stimulate creative thinking. After all, questions require answers and answers require thought. The problem is that most of the questions law professors ask Continued on page 2 Inside The wisdom of Solomon ....... ..... 3-4 Electronic essay exams ..... ........... 7 The full environmental picutre ................ 9-10 Students helping students ...... .......... 1

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most