Sentencing Mitigation

Catalog description

This interdisciplinary class, comprised of both law and social work students, explores the role of sentencing advocacy in state and federal sentencing systems, the factors that influence its quality, and the insights from social scientists that can critique and improve it. The class will introduce the students to several guest speakers (defense lawyers, prosecutors, judges, social scientists and mitigation specialists) who will put the role and quality of sentencing advocacy in perspective. Most significantly, students will learn themselves, through hands-on involvement in actual cases, how to strategize, research, and develop an effective sentencing memorandum.