Criminal Procedures: Investigations

Catalog description

Criminal Procedure: Investigations examines the constitutional law that governs police attempts to solve crime and bring perpetrators to justice. The course considers the role of the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures as well as the Fifth Amendment ban on compelled self-incrimination, in guiding police behavior and in structuring the trials that follow constitutional violations. Students will evaluate the wisdom and constitutional validity of the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule, which prohibits the introduction of evidence obtained as a result of an unreasonable search, and the well-known Miranda v. Arizona decision as it has evolved over time.