Criminal Law I

This course considers the general principles of substantive criminal law and evaluates them in terms of the various purposes that justify a system of criminal punishment. It will include an analysis of the doctrines of mens rea attempt, complicity, and conspiracy as well as certain crimes such as homicide and certain defenses such as self-defense.

Criminal Procedure I (4th, 5th, 6th Amendments)

This course will cover the pretrial stages of a criminal case and the Constitution's impact on criminal procedure. Classes will focus upon criminal/constitutional issues with emphasis on the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments. Subjects covered will include searches and seizures, statements/confessions, due process, and line-ups.

Ethics

We will study the rules governing the professional conduct of lawyers and explore the values of the legal system which justify and explain those rules. Specific subject matter includes: the duties of competence, confidentiality, and loyalty; acquisition and retention of clients (including undertaking representation, advertising, solicitation, and withdrawal from representation); and problems concerning the manner of representation (the "Principle of Professionalism" and "zealous advocacy within the bounds of the law").

Interrogation and the Global War on Terrorism

In May, 2004 news accounts of torture and abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib by American military and intelligence personnel erupted in the U. S. press. These stories joined a smaller stream of news accounts of the use of torture in interrogations in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, and in assorted secret sites maintained by U.S. and allied governments, as well as the first accounts of the practice of the rendition by the U.S. of prisoners to countries that routinely use torture in interrogation. Since May, 2004, accounts of torture by, or at the behest of, U.S. authorities conducting the Global War on Terror (GWOT) have multiplied, and indeed, have reached flood stage. Abu Ghraib, it is now clear, was not an aberration, but the new norm. The new norm poses epochal challenges to American law and society. Both domestic and international law ban torture absolutely as a method of interrogation, forbid the practice of torture for any reason and in any circumstances. Yet, since the beginning of the GWOT, pragmatists have argued that torture for the sake of gaining useful life saving intelligence is both necessary and justified. It has been argued that interrogation for this purpose should be practiced even if it means that prosecution will be sacrificed because the fruits of torture would be inadmissible as evidence: This view is that prevention is more important than conviction. It has also been argued that the law should be changed to allow the fruits of torture to be used in courts of law. Either course has profound implications not only for the law of war and human rights law, but also for domestic criminal procedure.

The Seminar will investigate the pressures leading to the new permissive torture paradigm and evaluate the case for and against this shift. To that end, we will examine the question of the efficacy of torture; we will look at the historical record, including the experience garnered within living memory of the last several generations of war, conflict, and domestic criminal justice. We will examine the questions, is torture an effective method of producing useful, truthful intelligence? If so, is it indispensable to the GWOT? How should the present confrontation between U.S. practice and international and domestic law be resolved? What are the implications for U.S. domestic criminal procedure of a shift to countenancing torture, i.e, does the life saving rationale, if it succeeds in justifying torture, argue for similar interrogation procedures in domestic criminal cases?

This seminar is open to law students, and to medical students, and graduate students in social science and history by permission of the instructor.

Jurisprudence

Whether you are aware of it or not, you have imbibed a distinctive philosophy of law along with your legal education. A century ago lawyers and judges had a different understanding of law. Views have continued to change over the generations. Jurisprudence 555 will give students the opportunity to hold up the view of law they has picked up by osmosis in the law school classroom to critical reflection. The class will look at the history of thinking about what law is from the founding of the modern law school to the present. Although philosophies have changed, some fundamental questions have been posed and answered throughout this history: (1) Is law autonomous and distinct from other fields of knowledge and social practices? (2) Is law a science? (3) What is the relationship between law and morality? (4) What do judges do? The course will be divided into two parts. Part I examines the unfolding of the answers to these questions by lawyers, judges and legal scholars over the history that shapes current understanding and practice. In Part II the class will examine the array of jurisprudential movements that play a vital role in contemporary thinking about law. These include the critical jurisprudence movements, critical legal studies, critical race theory, feminist jurisprudence, and law and economics.

National Security

This course explores the fundamental constitutional and legal issues that arise in the national security context, paying particular attention to the roles of various actors, such as the executive and the courts, in times of war. Students' exploration of national security will begin with the founding era and move forward to other historical moments, such as the Civil War, World War II, and the Korean War, ending with current post-9/11 developments.

At the end of the semester, students will participate in a simulation in which students will be asked to assume various roles and respond to a hypothetical crisis. Students may elect to take this course as a writing seminar, in which case students will be expected to write a research paper of publishable quality, or as a traditional seminar, in which case students will be expected to write shorter briefs throughout the semester.

Practicum

This class introduces you to the work and professional roles of lawyers. It investigates the meaning of professionalism; examines the role of personal and professional values in becoming and being a lawyer; and discusses various aspects of legal practice, including ways to improve your likelihood of success and happiness in your career.

As background, empirical studies show that lawyers who pick their fields carefully based upon their own strengths and needs are happier and do better in the profession overall. Other studies show that multitasking and excessive stress interfere with clear thinking. Indeed, calm focused people are better at what they do, whatever profession they enter. They are also more efficient and work better with others. Calm focused people are also happier and have a better sense of their own priorities and values. This class is designed to:

• help you learn about the legal system and the professional role of attorneys;
• help you create space in your life for activities that keep you balanced as a human being;
• help you control stress and thus enhance your academic and professional success;
• help you improve your interpersonal skills;
• allow you to develop a support system at the law school by getting to know some of your peers in an unconventional setting; and
• allow you to develop a relationship with a faculty member that is supportive both inside and outside the classroom.

Being a lawyer can be all you want it to be and can give you the power to bring about whatever change you want to see. This class will help prepare you to do just that.