Criminal Procedure

Catalog description

This course provides a survey of criminal procedure and related constitutional law. Section 1 of the course explores the origins and evolution of criminal procedure, from its ancient roots through colonial times, the due process revolution, and modern law. Section 2 examines sources of modern criminal procedure, including statutory law, Supreme Court opinions, other case law, rules, regulations, and organizations' rules and regulations. Section 3 examines the Fourth Amendment and the evolution of search and seizure laws, including arrests, proper use of force, search warrants, and searches of places and things. This section presents older and more recent psychological conceptions of crime. Section 4 examines the Fifth Amendment, the federal due process clause, and the right to be free from forced self-incrimination; the Confrontation Clause; and the rights and responsibilities of all related criminal justice stakeholders in relation to these issues, including victims and defendants. Section 5 examines the Sixth Amendment, the right to counsel, evidence procurement and development, and criminal trial procedures. Section 6 examines the Eighth Amendment, the relationship between the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, pretrial versus post-conviction procedures, sentencing and correctional procedures, and the cruel and unusual punishment clause. Section 7 examines the Fourteenth Amendment, substantive due process clause, the equal protection clause, civil rights litigation, and the role of the writ of habeas corpus in criminal procedure. Section 8 allows students to demonstrate that they have mastered the above through a case study of a criminal case that has occurred within the past twelve months, or is ongoing.