Hot Topics in Criminal Justice

Description

After completing this course, participants should be able to :

• Describe the problem of mass incarceration in the United States and why it exists;
• Suggest ways of reducing incarceration;
• Criticize risk assessment tools and their use in preventive detention programmes.
• Examine the benefits and drawbacks of the death penalty, the exclusionary rule, and the insanity defence. 
• Examine the significance of neurological evidence in a criminal case; 6. List some of the reasons why innocent people are wrongfully convicted;
• Discuss the role of race in sentencing as well as police use of force, stop and frisk, and consent searches.
• Describe the various types of surveillance technology available to police officers, as well as the constitutional principles that govern their use.

Syllabus :

1. Mass Incarceration

• Incarceration Rates in the United States and Europe 
• Legal Reasons for Differences Between U.S. and European Incarceration Rates 
• Cultural Reasons for Differences Between U.S. and European Incarceration Rates
• Additional Cultural Reasons for Differences Between U.S. and European Incarceration Rates 
• Can Incarceration Trends Be Reversed? 

 

2. Punishment & Prevention

• Introduction: Reducing Reliance on Harsh Prison Terms 
• Purposes of Punishment
• The Accuracy of Sentencing Determinations 
• Treatment Programs
• The Autonomy Principle
• Pure Preventive Detention

 

3. Insanity & Neuroscience

• Cases in Which the Insanity Defense is Raised 
• Legal Definitions of Defenses Based on Mental Disability 
• The Outer Boundaries of Mental State Defenses 
• Legal Claims Based on Neuroscience and Neurogenetics 
• Mental Disability and Dispositions After Conviction 

 

4. The Death Penalty

• History and Structure of the Death Penalty 
• Economics of the Death Penalty & Interrogations 
• Eyewitness Identifications
• Labs and Adversarialism
• The Influence of Elections, Jury Confusion, and Race on Death Sentences 

 

5. Police Use of Force

• How Often do Police Use Force and Against Whom?
• The Law of Deadly Force and Stop and Frisk
• The Law of Car Stops and Searches 
• The Exclusionary Rule and Damages Remedies 
• Oversight Boards, Training, and Structural Reforms

 

6. Police Surveillance

• The Definition of Search Under the Fourth Amendment
• The Knowing Exposure, General Public Use and Contraband-Specific Doctrines
• The Assumption of Risk Doctrine
• Reasons to Regulate Police Surveillance

Show more