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ADMISSIONS > Courses >
The following courses are available for those interested in criminal law:
California's Prison Crisis
After three decades of population growth, the California prison system has entered a period of extended crisis. Despite adding more than 20 new prisons, the system currently has 80 thousand prisoners beyond its 100 thousand design capacity. With an aging population facing long prison sentences, health care has become an enormous burden and the state has acknowledged its failure to provide constitutionally required levels of care. Three decades after announcing in Penal Code Section 1170 that the “purpose of imprisonment for crime is punishment,” a growing body of expert and popular opinion now questions whether this mass warehousing strategy can help rather than hurt public safety.
These problems have now come to a head. Two federal judges have announced the possibility of placing population caps on the prisons. The governor has declared the prisons a state of emergency and criticized the fact that more than 2/3 of California parolees are returned to prison within 3 year. The Governor has proposed a variety of short and medium term measures including shipping inmates out of state to private prisons, and spending 10 billion dollars to build new facilities closer to California’s communities. The additional space, he promises, will make rehabilitation more feasible. The legislature, heavily influenced by the powerful union of correctional officers has yet to act. This seminar will be a real time exploration of this evolving crisis. Drawing on the documents produced by litigation, recent research, and expert commissions, we will explore four topics:
Students will be expected to help lead the class and to prepare a final paper.
Capital Punishment and the Constitution
The course offers an overview of the constitutional law governing the death penalty. After an initial look at the history of capital punishment and the arguments for and against the death penalty, the course will consider the following topics: early challenges to the death penalty; different statutory attempts to enact constitutional death penalty schemes; execution of offenders who commit non-homicide crimes and who are felony murder accomplices, juveniles, mentally retarded, insane or possibly innocent; jury selection in capital cases; the effect of race on capital sentencing; the roles of the defendant, defense counsel, the prosecutor, and the trial judge; the procedural requisites and evidentiary limits for capital sentencing trials; penalty trial instructions and arguments; state and federal post-conviction review of capital sentences; clemency proceedings and execution; and international standards regarding capital punishment. The course is designed both for students generally wishing to learn more about the death penalty and students considering the practice of criminal law. Although only criminal law is required for the course, knowledge of criminal procedure would be helpful.
The casebook is Rivkind & Shatz, Cases and Materials on the Death Penalty (West Publishing 2001). The course offers guest speakers, video documentaries, an optional visit to a capital trial or an appellate argument in a death penalty case, and, if possible, an optional tour of San Quentin State Prison, which houses California’s death row for men.
Criminal Procedure- Investigation
This course provides an examination of criminal investigations and the constitutional and statutory law relating to police officers and lawyers. Topics include the role of prosecution and defense counsel, search and seizure, police interrogation, grand juries, and assistance of counsel.
Death Penalty Clinic and Seminar
Students in the Death Penalty Clinic work under the supervision of experienced clinical faculty on capital direct appeals and post-conviction cases, and occasionally on other matters relating to the death penalty and criminal law. Students are also supervised by investigators and paralegals who are members of the legal teams assigned to individual cases. Students review trial records, interview clients and witnesses, examine evidence, work with experts, and prepare habeas corpus petitions, motions and briefs. Students are required to enroll in the Clinic for a full year. The Clinic is counsel for individuals under death sentence in California, Alabama, and North Carolina. The Clinic has also served as counsel in additional litigation, such as representing amici curiae in capital cases before the United States Supreme Court.
The Clinic is administered like any law office and students must adhere scrupulously to rules regarding privilege and confidentiality. They will learn case management skills and should be prepared to work according to the demands of the litigation, including during breaks, when necessary. The expectation is that students will work a minimum of 16 hours per week (in addition to team and individual meetings), though the actual number of hours may vary from week-to-week. Students should also expect to travel during the course of their participation in the Clinic, including during school breaks. Because of the demands of our cases, Death Penalty Clinic students may not enroll concurrently in another clinic or field placement.
Clinic students must also enroll in the Death Penalty Clinic Seminar, which is given in the fall semester each year. The Seminar provides the theoretical foundation and skills training for the Death Penalty Clinic. Because the Seminar includes discussions of the Clinic’s cases, it is only open to students who concurrently enroll in the Clinic.
Enrollment in the Clinic and Seminar is by permission. Prerequisites are Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure and Evidence. Faculty have the discretion to waive the prerequisites in individual cases. Preference is given to students who have taken Capital Punishment and the Constitution, which is offered each Spring. The Seminar is graded. The Clinic is CR/NC.
Juvenile Justice
The juvenile court was initially hailed as a revolutionary use of law to single-mindedly further the welfare of children. After a century of existence, it is simultaneously revered and reviled. This course examines the major jurisdictional categories and the legal doctrines of the original juvenile court and contrasts them with the current treatment of young offenders in juvenile and criminal courts. Emphasis is on the court's evolution over time and prospects for further reform of its juvenile delinquency jurisdiction, as well as the comparison of criminal and juvenile courts in responding to crime by young persons.
The Law and Public Policy Issues in Prisoner Reentry
As California has increased its prison population by over 800% over the past 30 years, there has been surprising little serious legal and policy scholarship about the impact of returning prisoners. Presently there are nearly 120,000 prison inmates that are released from state prisons each year, and thousands more exit county jails. It has been asserted that California prisoners have one of the highest recidivism rates in the nation. The Little Hoover Commission has described prisoner reentry as “a billion dollar failure.” There are growing legal challenges to virtually all aspects of the state parole system, and the Governor and Legislature are debating major reforms to improve this situation.
This class will equip students to understand legal and policy questions surrounding prisoner reentry. Besides the instructor, the students will hear from leading legal and correctional practitioners who are working on reforming the system of prisoner reentry.
There will be three writing assignments over the course of the semester, when combined, they will constitute a major research paper (20 to 25 pages, 1.5 spaced). The purpose of the paper is to inform a high-level policymaker about a specific issue and recommend a program or policy direction.
Students will choose a topic from the list of potential topics handed out during the first week of class. These topics were selected by California leaders specifically for this class. These are the priority topics they need the most help on as the reform moves forward, and hence the papers have real-world relevance. The best of these papers will be shared with the policymaker it is intended for.
Restorative Justice
In this seminar we will explore both the theory and the practice of restorative justice, an alternative approach to the retributive justice model of our present criminal law system. By viewing crime as a violation against the victim as well as the state and by focusing on the offender’s obligation to repair the damage caused by the criminal act, the restorative justice model involves the victim, the offender, the family, and the community in a search for solutions. Because its goal is restoration, the model emphasizes offender accountability to the victim and the community rather than mere punishment and fosters re-integration of the offender into society. The course will discuss the philosophy and history of restorative justice, the use of restorative justice models in other countries and cultures, the application of restorative justice principles to both juvenile and adult offenders in the United States, the use of restorative justice techniques in educational and domestic settings when violence occurs, and reparations movements in South Africa and the United States. We will also analyze the goals and utility of the retributive justice approach, the settings in which both models may be appropriate, and some of the criticisms of the restorative justice movement.
Trial Practice: Criminal
This course focuses upon the courtroom application of criminal law principles and practices. Students will prepare and present opening statements, direct and cross examination, documentary and demonstrative evidence, and closing arguments. They will also gain a practical understanding of common issues in criminal law, including bail, sentencing, preliminary hearings, ethics and misconduct and motions to suppress.
The format will be hands-on and participatory, and the emphasis will be on learning practical techniques for shaping the evidence, using the law, and exploiting the courtroom to create a coherent and convincing case theory. All performances will be videotaped and the course will culminate in a half-day jury trial.
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