USFSP - UT International Research Cooperation -- Spring 2020

Very pleased that my US Constitutional Law 2 class will be cooperating with the University of Tetovo, Professor Jusuf Zejneli's Constitutional Law class. Students will be working together in groups on a comparative legal research project:

Joint Comparative Legal Research Project:

Civil Liberties in the U.S. and in Europe:

A Comparison of Cases decided by the SCOTUS and the ECtHR

Spring 2020

Objective:

This group research project will give students from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg (USFSP) and University of Tetovo (UT) the opportunity to work together on a comparative legal research project comparing decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and the Supreme Court of the United States involving similar legal questions.

This comparative legal research project is designed to introduce students to legal research and writing, and to better understanding of the ECtHR in comparison to the SCOTUS.

In addition to learning more about civil liberties and human rights in the U.S. and in Europe, this assignment will give students the opportunity to

• foster intercultural understanding through learning and communication
• develop oral and written communication skills through the communication with a counterpart from U.S. and Macedonia - across cultures and beyond borders
• make students aware of the interconnectedness of local/regional/global social issues
• expand students’ opportunities in using technology in communication, learning and research
• make students curious and interested in acquiring more knowledge about U.S. and Macedonia and their peoples
• make students work virtually, outside homes, outside the country, through an on-line cooperation
• make students reconsider possible preconceived ideas about big and small countries and the problems they face
• make students share and learn from the experience of the other in terms of study and research
• overcome language barriers for those who were not able to communicate with a native speaker

The main focus of the research will be to compare and contrast decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States and the European Court of Human Rights on the following human rights issues:

1. ECHR Article 3 Prohibition of Torture; US Constitution, 8^th Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment

2. ECHR Article 6, Right to Fair Trial; US Constitution, US Constitution, 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th Amendments

3. ECHR Article 10 Freedom of Expression; US Constitution 1^st Amendment

4. ECHR Article 9 Freedom of Thought, Conscience, and Religion; US Constitution 1^st Amendment Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause

5. ECHR Article 11 Freedom of Assembly and Association; US Constitution 1^st Amendment

6. ECHR Article 12 Right to Marry; US Constitution 5^th Amendment Due Process, 14^th Amendment Equal Protection