Categories: Criminal Law
Instructor(s) Klingele, Cecelia
Introductory survey of the criminal justice process with emphasis on the stages of the criminal justice process, form investigation through service of an imposed sentence. The course emphasizes the ways in which the exercise of discretion by actors within the criminal justice system (police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, sentencing judges, and correctional officials) affects the ways in which criminal matters are resolved and enhances or detracts from the legitimacy of the criminal justice system. By the end of the course, students will be familiar with the roles of all main actors within the criminal justice system, with the basic Constitutional principles that govern police-citizen interactions and prosecutorial charging decisions, with the investigative and adjudicative stages of the criminal process, and with the most common types of sentencing regimes used in the United States today.
Emphasizing the importance of both reflection and action, students will be expected to attend a number of court proceedings and participate in a police ride along. Students will also conduct a graded mock suppression argument mid-semester. In addition to the oral argument and a final examination, students will be expected to write a short paper based on the student's observations reflecting on the exercise of discretion by a sentencing judge or police officer.
