Court Procedures

Catalog description

This course examines the laws, procedures, and traditions of the criminal courtroom. After an overview of the philosophical and historical foundation of our modern-day criminal court, the course will study the process through the court system from the filing of charges, setting of bail, plea bargaining, and trial. The roles of the various parties in the courtroom--prosecutor, defense attorney, judge, and jury--will be analyzed. Famous trials in Anglo-American jurisprudence will be used to highlight and illustrate basic concepts.