Criminal Law and Policy

Fall semester only (2025-2026): Students provide holistic, client-centered civil legal assistance and representation to survivors of gender-based violence primarily by staffing a community walk-in pro per restraining order clinic; providing consultations to survivors of gender-based violence participating in Title IX cases and related civil matters responsive to clients’ individual goals; and creating a community outreach or research project.

The Immigration Law Clinic (ILC) provides legal representation to indigent non-citizens in removal proceedings before U.S. Immigration Courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and federal courts,including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The ILC provides this necessary service to Northern California's immigrant communities, offering education and legal services to low-income immigrants facing deportation while enabling students to gain practical, real-world experience.

Seminar — 2 units. This two unit class provides an overview of the major juvenile delinquency procedural hearings: detention, jurisdiction, disposition and transfer hearings.  The class will discuss the recent United States Supreme Court decisions on life without the possibility of parole for minors and how these decisions are influenced by recent scientific findings on brain development in young adults. The constitutional rights of students while in school will be reviewed in the context of mandatory drug testing and police interrogations and searches of students while on campus.

Discussion — 3 units.  In addition to examining the evidence law governing the admission of scientific testimony, this course considers related procedures as well as trial advocacy in presenting and attacking such testimony.

Discussion — 3 units.  An introduction to the mechanics and preparation of trial. The class features lectures, demonstrations, assigned readings, and trial drills. The emphasis throughout the course is on the formulation and implementation of trial strategy, theory and theme of the case and practical techniques. Students will conduct all phases of a trial, including opening statements, direct and cross examinations, and closing arguments.

Evening laboratory is 2 hours (held on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings).

Discussion — 2 units. This course covers the law of conspiracy, corporate criminal liability, mail and wire fraud, the Hobbs Act, RICO, money laundering, obstruction of justice, and other white collar crimes and their associated defenses.

Final Assessment: Take-home exam 
Grading Mode: Letter Grading

Discussion — 2 units. This course will train students to recognize and effectively respond to those evidentiary issues most common in trials, including common issues of relevance and threshold admissibility, character and habit evidence, hearsay and its exceptions, evidentiary foundations, privileges, lay and expert witness opinion testimony, and the handling of real and demonstrative evidence. While primary focus will be given to the Federal Rules of Evidence, selected California Evidence Code provisions will be discussed and contrasted.

Seminar — 2 units. 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.

Skills — 3 units. In this class, we will review files of incarcerated people serving long prison sentences and make recommendations to California prosecutors about making a motion under California Penal Code (CPC) § 1172.1 or other laws to resentence the person to a lesser term.

Skills — 2 units. 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