Inside the Courtroom: Criminal Justice on Trial

Catalog description

Although it aims to deliver justice, the American criminal legal system has wrongfully convicted thousands of innocent people. Since it began recording wrongful convictions in 1989, The National Registry of Exonerations has documented 3,676 innocent people punished for crimes they did not commit. How does the court system facilitate justice and injustice? What does a real criminal jury trial look like from start to finish? How do the perspectives of the prosecutor, the defense attorney, the witnesses, law enforcement investigators, and the judge inform the procedures and outcomes of a criminal case? This seminar will consider a real case to foster discussion of whether an accusation of crime is just, and whether eyewitness testimony, forensic evidence, and expert witness analysis is reliable. Students will read transcripts of testimony from an actual criminal trial, evaluate the real evidence submitted as trial exhibits, and visit a local courthouse to witness live legal arguments. Through these materials, this seminar invites student discussion of the values and principles underlying criminal justice in the United States, including notions of fairness, justice, and freedom. Students from all disciplines are welcomed to consider and reflect on their potential future contributions to criminal justice, whether as expert witnesses in forensic science, journalists, attorneys, policy makers, scholars, or jurors.