Public Policy and the Criminal Justice System

Catalog description

This course studies the concepts and methods of political and legal activity within the criminal justice system and their impact on society. CRIMJ 502 CRIMJ 502 Public Policy and The Criminal Justice System (3) The purpose of this course is to focus on crime policies in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, resource allocation, and societal impact. This course forms a nexus between the legal reasoning of criminal law with the theoretical and research foundations of the discipline. Crime control appears to be centered within the political community often without adequate, fair, or pertinent analysis of policy design or implementation. This course will use legal precedent to discuss the past and apply such a precedent to current issues. Students will examine how political assessments of crime is no guarantee that the resulting policy will deter the behavior. The nexus between research, criminal law, and the expectation of justice often come from disparate views about the goal of the criminal justice system. This course will also examine the goal of justice amid diverse populations. How has racial disparity in sentencing, legal representation, the death penalty, judicial representation, and political careers persisted? Students will also study comparative issues of national and international law. Finally, students will address a policy issue by submitting a policy analysis research proposal followed by a policy analysis paper.