Criminal Practice and Procedure Certificate

Designed to broaden understanding of the potential and the limitations of social control, by examining the basic principles of substantive criminal law. The course explores the common law of crimes, as well as major statutes and appellate opinions that reflect modern attitudes regarding criminal culpability. Crimes against person and property are examined by considering essential elements of offenses, mitigating factors, defenses, and theories of punishment.

Surveys the law of evidence applied in the federal trial courts with some comparison with state courts of superior jurisdiction. Case law and code sources are considered with special emphasis placed on the Federal Rules of Evidence. Among the topics treated are the mechanics of presenting and objecting to evidence, relevance, competency and privilege, character evidence, impeachment, hearsay and the major exceptions thereto, expert testimony and scientific evidence, judicial notice, and the burdens of proof and presumptions.

Explores the procedural limitations placed on police practices by federal and state constitutions and statutes. In particular, the course examines the law of search and seizure, pretrial identification, electronic surveillance, the right against self-incrimination, and such pretrial interrogation concerns as Miranda rights and the right to counsel. The development and present application of the exclusionary rule constitutes the central unifying theme of the course.

This course addresses the historical and contemporary relationship between criminal and immigration law. Intended for students interested in practicing Immigration or Criminal Law, the course will explore how various pleas, sentences, and convictions impact foreign nationals. The course covers criminal grounds of deportability and inadmissibility, categorization of crimes under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), types of immigration relief available to foreign nationals with criminal history, and postconviction relief for foreign nationals in criminal court. The course is practice oriented. Students should come away with an understanding of how criminal attorneys should handle cases involving noncitizens. It also will provide a toolbox for immigration attorneys for advising criminal defense attorneys in criminal proceedings, for practice before the immigration courts, and for seeking postconviction relief in criminal court.

This simulation course uses oral and written exercises from a case file to show the relationship between strategic and tactical decisions of counsel in the processing of a criminal case. The course will explore the relationship between issues of substantive criminal law, criminal procedure, evidence, ethics, and trial advocacy. Students will examine a variety of questions, such as challenges to the charging decision, suppression of evidence, discovery questions, motions in limine and motions to admit. Each issue will be addressed in two-week segments, with one week devoted to brainstorming approaches, and a second week of presenting written and oral arguments and conducting hearings on these questions. Please check the most recent course registration information to determine if this course meets the Experiential Education/Professional Skills requirements.

This course examines the ethical responsibilities and associated constitutional obligations of criminal defense lawyers. Topics will include the role of defense counsel in the adversary system, client confidentiality, perjury and the duty of candor, duties to third parties, physical evidence, conflicts of interest, and the jurisprudence of ineffective assistance of counsel. Heavy emphasis will be placed on weekly readings and discussion of multimedia materials, including film and TV portrayals of practicing defense lawyers. Students will be evaluated on class preparation and participation, as well as a course paper. This course may be offered every other year.

This is an advanced course that emphasizes the practical application of principles and rules of evidence. It is founded on the premise that trial lawyers should know the rules of evidence and understand how to use them in the courtroom to their advantage and on the realization that the rules affect both tactical and substantive decisions about the presentation of a case. This course is for students who seek either a more thorough and practical foundation in the field of evidence or who plan to become trial advocates. Please check the most recent course registration information to determine if this course meets the Experiential Education/Professional Skills requirements.

This class will discuss the law of evidence in the context of a jury trial. Along with discussing major topics in the law of evidence in more depth than in an introductory evidence class, we will discuss evidentiary topics that arise frequently at trial but receive scant attention in most evidence classes. While the “The Law of Evidence and the Craft of Advocacy” is not a clinical class, we will incorporate a discussion of the practical application of evidentiary law in a trial setting. Being a successful trial lawyer requires more than just a command of black-letter evidence law; it also requires an understanding of the doctrinal principles behind the rules of evidence and how the rules are just the first step in utilizing the law of evidence to control the process of proof at trial.

The objective of the course is to provide the student with a general knowledge of immigration laws and procedures in the United States. Focus is on the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the specific procedures established for the processing of affirmative applications for status, as well as defending against removal. The course covers the constitutional authority of the federal government to legislate and regulate immigration, nonimmigrant and immigrant visas (including family and employment based), grounds of inadmissibility and deportability, and defenses against removal. It also touches on asylum law and issues impacting those present without documentation. The course is practice oriented, with theory grounding and contextualizing aspects of the course, as relevant.

This course focuses on major international crimes, including war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity, torture, aggression, and terrorism.  In addition to discussing these crimes, the course will focus on general legal principles of criminal liability such as joint and indirect perpetration, superior responsibility, and the defense of obedience to orders, and will compare these international crimes and theories of liability with traditional crimes in domestic courts.  The course will also examine the relationship between humanitarian law and human rights law in the international criminal setting.  Finally, the course will examine the various international, quasi-international, and domestic forums where these crimes are prosecuted as well as jurisdictional issues.  The course will be conducted with both synchronous and asynchronous portions.  In the asynchronous portion of the course, students will be assigned specific readings and problem scenarios and asked to submit written responses.  Synchronous class meetings, which will be held once or twice a week, will be focused on doctrinal understanding of the material and application through a discussion of the assigned problems.  After the initial synchronous classes, student teams will be assigned to be the discussion leaders for the remaining classes.  Each student will write a 12-15 page paper on a topic of their interest.

Explores the primary methods by which the state defines and controls juvenile delinquency in our society. Through the study of case law, students are exposed to the history and philosophy of the juvenile justice system and to the concept of juvenile delinquency. In particular, focus is given to the unique juvenile court, its roles as a legal system and as a social welfare system, and a comparative analysis of juvenile law and process. Also explored are dependency, neglect, and diversion programs.

Explores the interrelations between law and mental disabilities. Topics include the insanity defense, use of psychiatric expert testimony, competence to stand trial, use of indeterminate sentencing for “dangerous” offenders and predicting “dangerousness” civil commitment, rights of mental patients, use of psychotropic medication, and psychiatrist/patient privilege. This course may be offered every other year.

This course explores the many legal issues that concern information privacy in the law enforcement context, including the scope of the Fourth Amendment in the digital age, the privacy implications of emerging surveillance technology, and digital searches and seizures. This course will be taught as a colloquium; after an initial introduction to legal and philosophical perspectives on information privacy, teaching will be undertaken by students in the course. Each student (or team of students) will be responsible for leading discussion on a topic related to privacy and law enforcement.

Examines the ethical responsibilities and obligations of the criminal prosecutor. Each class will include a discussion of selected readings and issues related to the various stages of the criminal process. Students should be familiar with the pertinent Model Rules of Professional Conduct and ABA Criminal Justice Standards discussed in the text. This course may be offered every other year.

This skills course is designed to prepare students for the trial phase of litigation. Although it presumes prior knowledge of the substantive areas of law covered during the first two years of law school, especially evidence, the course itself concentrates on trial procedure and the development of jury trial advocacy skills. Students conduct complete mock trials in which they participate as parties, witnesses, and counsel. Problems faced by students acting as counsel include jury selection, opening statements, closing arguments, examination of witnesses-including opinion testimony, offers of exhibits, objections to evidence, and impeachment of witnesses. Mock trial exercises are critiqued by the instructor and class members. Consideration also is given to client interviews, investigation, discovery, pleadings, pretrial motions, and the preservation of rights to appeal. Please check the most recent course registration information to determine if this course meets the Experiential Education/Professional Skills requirement.

This course provides an introduction to federal white collar criminal and civil practice.  The course begins with a review of general principles such as corporate criminal liability, mail and wire fraud, conspiracy, and relevant provisions of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.  DOJ and SEC policies encouraging voluntary disclosure, cooperation, and remediation in white collar investigations will be examined, followed by consideration of issues affecting federal grand jury practice including Fifth Amendment protections and immunity; corporate internal investigations; and Sixth Amendment protections related to the attorney-client privilege, the crime-fraud exception, and joint defense.  Finally, the course will examine selected laws governing the prosecution of health care and securities fraud, foreign corrupt practices, and other areas such as cybercrime and research integrity, as time permits.  Grades will be based on class participation, a mid-term exam, and a final exam.  This course may be offered every other year.

This 2-credit seminar considers wrongful convictions in the US criminal justice system. Its focus is (1) assessing the significance of the risk that a person will be or has been convicted or punished for a crime he or she did not commit; (2) identifying systemic, case-specific, procedural, and other factors that may affect this risk; and (3) exploring roles police, prosecutors, defense lawyers, judges, politicians, and journalists may play in wrongful convictions. Specific topics may include: Civil Remedies, Innocence and the Death Penalty, Eyewitness Identification, Exculpatory Evidence, False Confessions, Forensic Scientific Evidence, Jailhouse Informants, Ineffective Counsel, Litigating Innocence Claims, Role of Race and Ethnicity in Wrongful Convictions, and Prosecutorial and Defense Ethics and Innocence. Readings include articles, book excerpts, reports, studies, and cases. Requirements: Students must (1) submit a one-page weekly response to the assigned readings; (2) lead class discussion on one topic or class meeting; and (3) submit a 15-20 page research paper on an approved topic, with grades to be based upon a combination of these components. Optional additional component: The course provides an optional 1-credit or 2-credit additional component, in which students examine cases of alleged wrongful convictions referred by the New England Innocence Project. Casework includes reviewing transcripts, discovery and other materials, identifying issues for further investigation, and preparing research memoranda for presentation to a committee of practitioners. Other additional work may involve preparation of relevant briefs. The number of credits (1 credit for 5 hours work/week and 2 credits for 10 hours work/week) and of student positions depends upon case availability. Credits are awarded on a pass-fail basis, dependent upon satisfactory completion of case work.