They say that ‘timing is everything’. This could not be more true for the School of Law’s offering of US Constitutional Law (LAW396-LLM599 Special Studies). In a year that has given us the Black Lives Matter movement, a global pandemic, a nomination to the US Supreme Court and of course the most contested US Presidential Election in modern history, there has been ample content to cover in our inaugural offering of this unit.
This special studies unit, run by Associate Professor Guy Charlton, covered topics from the Declaration of Independence, to Freedom of Speech (First Amendment), Federal Authority and the War on Terror and Race & Racial Policy (just to name a few). To the disappointment of his students, teaching finished up prior to the US Election, however, Associate Professor Charlton, in the first of a series of commentaries, has provided insight and analysis of the 2020 US Presidential Election and US Voting System. In the YouTube video below, Guy covers the intricacies of how the US Voting System works, including elections at the different levels of government; voting rights; contributions and the electoral college. Guy also looks specifically at the 2020 campaigns and how events of 2020 and the media have influenced these campaigns and voter behaviour.
About Associate Professor Guy Charlton
Attorney Guy C. Charlton has a broad range of academic and legal experience. He is currently an Associate Professor at the University of New England in Armidale NSW. He has also lectured law in New Zealand and Hong Kong and published law articles in 5 different jurisdictions. Guy has his J.D. from the University of Wisconsin and an MA in International Relations from the University of Toronto. Prior to his academic career he practiced law over 15 years based in Milwaukee Wisconsin. He appeared in state and federal court in the Midwestern United States while practicing. He was awarded his PhD thesis at the University of Auckland Faculty of Law in May 2010 for a thesis entitled “Constitutional Conflicts and Aboriginal Rights: Hunting, Fishing, Gathering Rights in Canada, New Zealand and the United States.” This thesis argues that the present approach courts have taken toward the determination of the source, content and scope of usufructuary rights has been affected by historical and contemporary disputes concerning the nature and understanding of sovereignty, the nature and level of governmental authority and different philosophical approaches to political organization and individual rights. Dr. Charlton has a broad interest in law and politics and has worked in the Hawaii State legislature, The Ontario House of Representatives and as an Intern in the U.S. House of Representatives. His also as serve on the Plymouth (Wisconsin) City Council.
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Anna Lawlor
School of Law
