236.11 sec. 001 - The Case of Curtis Flowers: Another Indictment of American Criminal Justice? (Fall 2020)
Instructor: Elisabeth A. Semel (view instructor's teaching evaluations - degree students only | profile)
Instructor: Mridula Raman (view instructor's teaching evaluations - degree students only)
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Units: 1
Grading Designation: Credit Only
Due to COVID-19, this class is remote for Fall 2020.
Mode of Instruction: Remote Instruction
Meeting:
Tu 3:35 PM - 5:25 PM
Location: Internet/Online
From August 18, 2020
To November 10, 2020
Course End: November 10, 2020
Class Number (1Ls): 34321
Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 10
Waitlisted: 0
Enroll Limit: 11
As of: 12/07 09:41 AM
Curtis Flowers faced six capital murder trials for the same crime: a 1996 quadruple murder at a furniture store in a small town in Mississippi. He spent over 20 years on death row for the crimes. The Supreme Court reversed his most recent conviction and death sentence based on discriminatory jury selection, and Mr. Flowers is currently out on bail while awaiting a potential seventh trial. Recently, journalists investigated Mr. Flowers’s case, reporting on the flimsy evidence upon which he was convicted, the prosecutor's pattern of race-based jury selection, other prosecutorial misconduct, and the case’s journey across state and federal courts. Join us as we listen to the podcast produced by the journalists about the investigation, “In the Dark Season 2,” and explore issues-racism, police and prosecutorial misconduct, prosecutorial discretion in charging crimes, inadequate defense lawyering, and more-that infect our system of capital punishment and our criminal legal system more broadly.
This course meets every other Tuesday for 7 sessions beginning August 18th.
This class is among the special Fall 2020 1L elective seminars designed to give entering 1Ls an extra opportunity to form connections despite our remote form of interaction. In light of that goal, these classes will expect real-time attendance and may not be recorded. These classes will all be graded on a Credit/No Credit basis and total written work requirement will be no more than 8 double-spaced pages.
Real-time attendance at the first Zoom class is mandatory for all currently enrolled and waitlisted students; any currently enrolled or waitlisted students who are not present on the first day of class (without prior permission of the instructor) will be dropped. The instructor will continue to take attendance throughout the add/drop period and anyone who moves off the waitlist into the class must continue to attend or have prior permission of the instructor in order not to be dropped.
Prerequisites:
This course is only open to 1Ls.
Exam Notes: (None) Class requires a series of papers, assignments, or presentations throughout the semester
Course Category: Criminal Law
This course is listed in the following sub-categories:
First Year Courses
Social Justice and Public Interest
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Readers:
No reader.
Books:
Instructor has indicated that no books will be assigned.