Wikipedia:United States Education Program/Courses/Criminal Process (Professor Heather Winslow)/Course description

Course description
The criminal law lies at the very heart of democratic government and a free society; it is the criminal law, after all, that ultimately provides the conditions under which a government may legitimately utilize severe sanctions to coerce its citizens. Every lawyer - and, in fact, every citizen - should therefore have a thoughtful understanding and appreciation of both the policies and the process of the criminal law.

To provide such an understanding, this course explores in detail the manner in which a formal criminal proceeding is initiated and processed by our court system. Topics include arraignment and preliminary hearings, commitment or release on bail or personal recognizance, the grand jury, prosecutorial discretion, discovery and disclosure requirements, competence to stand trial, plea bargaining, right to a speedy trial, jury selection, joinder and severance of charges and/or defendants, management of jury deliberations, sentencing, and appeals. In order to provide a deeper understanding of these criminal proceedings, the course will explore their historical and theoretical bases, as well as the current Supreme Court jurisprudence that is shaping them.

Download Print Version of Syllabus (rev. 3)

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