The George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School Juris Master degree with a concentration in National Security, Cybersecurity & Information Privacy is a 100% online masters program designed to help leaders in IT systems, privacy and government, navigate the complex intersection of technology, security, digital information and U.S. law.
Advance your career with a Juris Master Degree
- Remote course options to serve working professionals
- Complete the degree in just 1-year of full-time study
- Benefit from direct access to GMU law library, study-spaces, and advising
- Ideal for professionals who interact with lawyers and legal issues regularly
Required Courses (30 Credits)
To earn a Juris Master (JM) degree, students must complete 30 hours of coursework. Degree candidates for the National Security, Cybersecurity, and Information Privacy concentration must complete 15 credits of required core curriculum and 15 or more credits from their concentration electives.
Core Curriculum (15 Credits)
Concentration Curricula (15 Credits)
Introduction to U.S. Law for Juris Master Students
3 Credits
This course is designed to provide JM students with an overview of United States law. The coursework will cover general areas of law, including regulatory and business law, as well as contracts, property and tort law, and their applicability in public institutions and business settings. This course will not provide an exhaustive survey of each topic, but rather provide exposure to a large amount of foundational information in a short period of time.
Legal Research & Writing for JM Students
2 Credits
This course is designed to introduce JM students to legal research methods, knowledge of general legal concepts, and the art of reading and interpreting legal writing. Students will learn the research, analysis and writing process through an assigned series of open and closed memoranda.
Economics for Lawyers
2 Credits
Economics for Lawyers (formerly Economic Foundations of Legal Studies) exposes students to a broad survey of economic, statistical, finance and accounting concepts as they play a crucial role in determining the outcome of legal disputes. Students will not become expert in these technical areas but will be exposed to both the mechanics and subtleties of these tools. The goal is to educate and train students so that they will be better prepared to understand a dispute, craft an argument, or prepare a witness.
Contracts for Juris Master Students
4 Credits
This course will provide JM students with an introduction to the principles of contract law, including the consideration doctrine, offer and acceptance, promissory estoppel, and the regulation of the bargaining process; as well as the relationship of contract law in government and business organizations. The course will also provide an overview of contractual interpretation, and basic knowledge regarding excuse and remedies.
Capstone 1
2 Credits
This course is designed to provide JM students with an avenue to draw upon the legal knowledge they have received, and to further develop the problem-solving orientation and skills to interact with attorneys, recognize legal issues and flag applicable law. As a “capstone,” students will select their own topic within their field of employment and pursue material directly related to their profession on which they will write a thesis under faculty supervision.
Capstone 2
2 Credits
This course is an extension of Capstone I. Students will research and draft their theses under the guidance of a faculty member.
Constitutional Law I
4 Credits
This course will provide an analysis of the structure of American government, as defined through the text of the Constitution and its interpretation. The course focuses on the allocation of powers and responsibilities among governmental institutions, including the separation and coordination of the legislative, executive, and judicial functions at the federal level, and the relation between the state and federal governments (including an introductory treatment of the Fourteenth Amendment).
Constitutional Law II: The 14th Amendment
2-3 Credits
This course is designed to introduce JM students to legal research methods, knowledge of general legal concepts, and the art of reading and interpreting legal writing. Students will learn the research, analysis and writing process through an assigned series of open and closed memoranda.
Criminal Law
3 Credits
In this course, general principles of the substantive criminal law and its major processes are derived from study of its common law origins and the effects of such variables as societal values, legislation, and judicial activity. Inquires into uses of the coercive power of the state, the federal-state relationship, and the concepts of group criminality, liability for uncompleted crimes, and rationale for punishment.
Cybersecurity Law Seminar
2 Credits
This seminar course will provide students exposure to the key legal and policy issues related to cybersecurity, including the legal authorities and obligations of both the government and the private sector with respect to protecting computer systems and networks, as well as the national security aspects of the cyber domain including authorities related to offensive activities in cyberspace. The course will include a survey of federal laws, executive orders, regulations, and cases related to surveillance, cyber intrusions by private and nation-state actors, data breaches, and privacy and civil liberties matters, among other things. The course will also explore the legislative and technology landscape in this dynamic area and will provide students with opportunities to discuss cutting-edge issues at the intersection of law, technology, and policy.
Privacy and Information Security Law
2 Credits
The course explores the rapid development of the law goverining the use and disclosure of personal and other information by government entities and private sector parties. The course also examines the emerging law regarding the obligation to protect information from misuse or access by unauthorized third parties and liability arising from such misuse or access.
Emerging Law of Internet Privacy Seminar
2 Credits
Increasingly technology has served as a disruptive force which challenges society to make important decisions about what privacy is and how it should be respected and/or protected. Students will survey the historical, policy and technological bases of privacy and information governance. Particular attention will be paid to notions of “relationship dependent context” as it relates to the collection, use and disclosure of information. In this course, leading legal academic scholarship in the field of information privacy will be discussed and students will apply knowledge of the law of privacy and technology to current legal and policy problems. Each student will apply their acquired knowledge both in class as well as through the preparation of a scholarly student paper. Issues such as Do-Not-Track and Online Advertising, Security Breaches, Workplace Monitoring, Comparative International Approaches, Ownership of Facts and Information, Health and Financial Privacy and more will be covered.
Homeland Security Law Seminar
2 Credits
This course provides an introduction to the policy, strategy and practical application of homeland security through an understanding of the authorizing laws, regulations, and polices that established DHS. This is a multi-faceted course that will expose students to complex intergovernmental and public-private sector policymaking, operational planning, and crisis management. The course is designed to promote subject matter understanding, critical analysis of issues, and insight into senior leader decision making. It also includes a practical examination of stakeholder interaction and key subject matter areas through an interactive tabletop exercise as well as other interactive opportunities throughout the course. This course is conducted as a seminar and requires a seminar paper.
Immigration Law
3 Credits
Examines fundamental issues in immigration law of inadmissibility and deportability, relief from removal, asylum and refugee status, citizenship, nonimmigrant and immigrant visas, including labor certification, and administrative and judicial review.
Immigration Policy Seminar
2 Credits
This course will examine U.S. immigration policy as it is embodied in our laws and procedures and will ask how our nation’s immigration policy reflect on our values as a nation. The course will discuss whom we let in, whom we keep out, how do we treat the people already here, and why. The course is broken down topically along the lines of a typical immigration law class, but this course is not concerned with the mechanics of the immigration laws. The class is intended to reach into the policy goals, the implications of policy, and the unintended consequences of poorly designed policies.
Intelligence Law Seminar
2 Credits
This seminar will provide students with an overview of the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) and its sources of legal authority. Students will engage in exercises (both written and oral) to analyze and draft practical guidance on relevant legal issues for the IC. Each class will involve an overview of the specific topic followed by either the drafting of a short memorandum addressing a hypothetical client question or a simulated inter-agency meeting. No security clearance is required since all materials and discussions will be at the unclassified level. Although this seminar is focused on issues most relevant to IC agencies, each week’s practical exercise will focus on drafting and/or negotiating skills useful and relevant to any government attorney.
National Security Law
3 Credits
This lecture course will explore the distribution of national security powers amongst the three coordinate branches of government and engage students in understanding the laws and policies that govern the legality of war, military operations in wartime, intelligence collection, protection of national security information, foreign intelligence surveillance, covert action, special military operations, offensive counterterrorism operations, the detention, interrogation, and prosecution of terrorism suspects, including military commissions, the domestic use of the military, homeland security, cybersecurity, and other current issues in the national security area. The class will also include discussion of materials declassified in recent months relating to foreign intelligence collection and offensive counterterrorism operations, as well as materials previously declassified, and will examine the legal analysis supporting these specific efforts and the policy questions raised by them.
Privacy & Information Security Law
2 Credits
The course explores the rapid development of the law governing the use and disclosure of personal and other information by government entities and private sector parties. The course also examines the emerging law regarding the obligation to protect information from misuse or access by unauthorized third parties and liability arising from such misuse or access.
Prosecuting Terrorism & Cases Involving National Security Seminar
2 Credits
This course analyzes the tools used to investigate and prosecute acts of terrorism and violations of national security laws. A research paper is required. The class is designed to highlight in practical terms the tension between protecting the nation’s security versus protecting privacy and individual liberties. The course utilizes the “9-11 Commission Report” to give context for modern day investigations and prosecutions. It looks at constitutional issues associated with searches, seizures, confessions and freedom of the press. It looks at electronic surveillance techniques, the use of classified information at trial, and substantive statutes used to prosecute cases.
Surveillance Law Seminar
2 Credits
This seminar course will expose students to laws and policies relating to government surveillance, from traditional criminal wiretaps to high tech surveillance conducted as part of the global war on terrorism. The course will involve a survey of the Fourth Amendment’s search and seizure case law and the application of that body of law to government surveillance efforts. Issues discussed will include: wiretaps in drug and organized crime cases; warrantless surveillance programs in the ’60-‘70s; legislative efforts to constrain surveillance; the expansion of government surveillance following the attacks of 9/11; and the implications of new surveillance technologies in an increasingly cyber- and technology-oriented world.
Sample Schedule
| CLASSES | COURSES | CREDITS |
|---|---|---|
| Semester 1 |
Introduction to US Law for JM Students Economics for Lawyers Legal Research & Writing for JM Students Total |
3 2 2 7 credits total |
| Semester 2 |
Contracts for JM Students Elective Concentration Course Capstone I Total |
4 2 or 3 2 8 to 9 credits total |
| Semester 3 |
Elective Concentration Courses Total |
6 to 8 6 to 8 credits total |
| Semester 4 |
Elective Concentration Courses Capstone II Total |
5 to 7 2 7 to 9 credits total |