Criminal Law and Policy

Race, Mass Incarceration and Policing

Seminar - 2 hours.  This course looks at key issues in the historical development and the current state of modern American imprisonment, policing structures, and the criminal justice system in relation to race. It will examine historical and contemporary scholarship, juridical shifts and case studies that provide arguments about the connections between race, poverty, and the criminal justice system in the form of imprisonment and policing.

Best Practices for Justice Seminar: Advocates Working to Improve the Criminal Justice System

Seminar - 2 hours. The Criminal Justice System continues to evolve as perceptions regarding judges, law enforcement officers and criminal attorneys (both prosecution and defense) change.  This class will analyze how our sense of justice is formed and what it looks like in the actual practice of criminal law. The class will discuss the legal standards for arrest, charging, and conviction along with the ethical conduct required of prosecutors and defense attorneys.

Aoki Conviction and Sentence Integrity Practicum

3 units - Students will work on criminal justice projects for prosecutors' offices, including individual cases involving excessive sentences and miscarriages of justice, and criminal justice policy reforms designed to reduce mass incarceration and advance racial justice.

Prerequisite: Law 227A Criminal Procedure and Law 219 Evidence are recommended.
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Final Assessment: Other.
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading.

Introduction to Criminal Litigation

This course utilizes experiential learning techniques to teach advocacy skills during the life of a criminal case and simulates critical stages of the proceedings by conducting mock hearings throughout the semester.

Recommended Co-requisite: Law 219 Evidence and Law 227A Criminal Procedure.

Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Final Assessment: Other.
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Immigration Crimes

Seminar - 2 hours. This course examines the history of immigration-related prosecutions, explores how they are currently conducted, and looks at the streamlined proceedings that happen in districts along the southern border.

Prerequisite: Law 206 Criminal Law. Law 292 Immigration Law is recommended.
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies Advanced Writing Requirement..
Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading