A week from today, Senator Feingold will be back in California teaching a class that only Senator Feingold could teach —“The United States Senate as a Legal Institution.” Even though Senator Feingold has given strict instructions to supporters — saying to not call him “Senator Feingold” and to not say he is “going back to the Senate” it seems like he is eager to lecture California students on his expertise from nearly two decades of experience in the United States Senate.
Check out the description of Senator Feingold’s class “The United States Senate as a Legal Institution” below:
"This course will familiarize students with major, and/or emerging legal and constitutional issues concerning the U.S. Senate. In so doing, it will examine: 1) the Senate’s nature as a complex legal institution, and 2) the issue of the Senate’s legitimacy in the context of the current and largely unprecedented criticism of the Senate from all parts of the political spectrum. This first portion of the course will consider institutional-legitimacy issues facing the Senate, including the appointment of senators to fill vacancies as well as disputes concerning Senate rules and procedures such as the filibuster and holds. The second part of the course will explore how the Senate interfaces with the Constitution and the Supreme Court. It will examine how senators should regard the issue of constitutionality in voting on legislation, be it campaign-finance reform, internet decency, or health care. This part of the course will also consider how senators should approach proposed constitutional amendments. The final portion of the course will review the wide range of issues that have emerged in recent years regarding the constitutional relationship between the Senate and the Executive Branch, including the increasingly acrimonious issue of the standard to apply to executive appointments under the advice and consent power. Particular emphasis on this part of the course will be given to issues that have gained greater prominence since 9/11, including the relationship between enacted, constitutional legislation and the presidential assertion of Article II powers, as well as the Senate’s abdication of its Article I war-declaration power. Elements used in grading: Class participation, attendance and final exam.”
Guess Feingold’s experience as a career politician who first ran for office in 1982 is paying off for students in California…