Structural Criminal Justice Seminar

3 units

Prerequisite: the first-year course, Criminal Law. This seminar will examine the criminal justice system from the perspective of structural public law. Rather than focusing on the substance of the written law (as the basic criminal law course does) or the rules that govern criminal investigations and adjudication (as criminal procedure courses do), this course will explore how structural features of the system-allocations of power and responsibility among different institutions and incentives for various actors-shape criminal law and influence how, and to whom, criminal law is applied. Possible topics include the separation of powers between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches; the relevance of administrative law to criminal justice; the political economy of criminal lawmaking; the division of responsibility over criminal justice between the federal government and the states; the role of financial incentives in shaping criminal justice policy; and the range of accountability mechanisms for police, prosecutors, and other actors. Readings will include judicial opinions and other primary legal materials, designed to help students understand formal rules, as well as law review articles and other secondary sources, which will help elucidate institutional realities while also framing discussion about how the system could be improved. Students will be required to write frequent short reaction papers synthesizing, analyzing, and critiquing the week's readings. The instructor will provide feedback on the reaction papers during the semester so that students have the opportunity to improve their writing on successive papers. Students will be graded based on their papers and on class participation. In order to facilitate an engaged discussion, electronic devices will not be permitted.