Contemporary Issues in Criminal Law Practice

Catalog description

The practice of criminal law at the federal level involves many of the most difficult issues practitioners face: how do you best navigate the structure of the federal court system in a way that is advantageous to your client? What is a trial exactly, and how does it work? If someone is convicted of a crime, what happens next? Are we incarcerating too many people in America? Why is there such a stark racial and socio-economic disparity between criminal defendants and other courtroom actors? This seminar introduces those issues, and provides a window into the lives of Assistant United States Attorneys, Assistant Federal Defenders, Magistrate Judges, and other federal practitioners.