Course Description
Exploration of contemporary criminal justice reform efforts with an emphasis on the role of race in criminal justice policy and practice. Likely areas of focus include policing, bail, and sentencing. Each student will complete a final research project evaluating or proposing a specific reform initiative.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate law students will not be doing any extra work beyond
that required of the Juris Doctor students. J.D. students are
post-baccalaureate students and the workload expected of them is
the same workload expected of post-baccalaureate graduate
students.
Athena Title
Criminal Justice Reform
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
The course objective is to provide students with sufficient knowledge to be informed participants in ongoing criminal justice policy debates, including knowledge of relevant constitutional law, history, institutional structure, and empirical tools for policy analysis. In addition, students will learn to evaluate policy proposals in light of relevant legal and practical constraints. The final project will serve to improve students’ research, analytical writing, and presentation skills.
Topical Outline
The coverage is intentionally flexible to allow the instructor to cover timely topics. Covered topics may include the following: Part I: Targets of Reform Mass Incarceration Criminal Justice and Racial Injustice Wrongful Convictions Part II: Mechanisms of Reform Criminal Justice Reform Litigation Grassroots Advocacy and Black Lives Matter State-Driven Reform (Legislation, Executive Action) Part III: Arenas of Reform Policing Reform (Stop-and-Frisk, Use of Force, Policing for Profit) Bail Reform Problem-Solving Courts Prosecutorial Accountability Reform (Brady, Prosecutorial Immunity) Indigent Defense Reform Plea-Bargaining Reform Sentencing Reform Back-End Reform: Parole, Clemency, Re-Entry Part IV: Student Presentations Short presentations of student projects.
Syllabus
Public CV