Criminal Law and Policy

Skills - 2 hours. This course will cover four areas: (1) research; (2) brief writing; (3) appellate strategy; and (4) oral advocacy. The students will be working on actual federal criminal cases in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. They will draft briefs on behalf of criminal defendants. They will also work on amicus briefs and policy papers on critical issues on behalf of clients such as the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Aoki Center for Critical Race and Nation Studies. We'll study the various court rules governing the form, substance and timing of briefs.

Skills – 1 unit - This course will introduce students to the practice of conscious lawyering, including concepts in professional and personal identity, self-awareness, focus, emotional intelligence, cultural and personal values, mindfulness, meditation, and mind-body connection. This course will help train students to be mindful and aware while engaging in the practice of law including litigation, negotiations, transactional deals, client management, and day-to-day work in a law practice.

Seminar – 2 units. As California moves into its second decade of criminal justice reform, we now turn our focus to how those with mental health conditions interact with law enforcement and the justice system. This class will explore the work of crisis intervention teams, collaborative courts, and California's new CARE courts. Our effort will build on a foundational study of competency, insanity, protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act, hospital holds, forced medication, and conservatorships. Special attention will be given to children and the elderly.

Skills - This course is designed to teach students (1) the law that restricts and supports jury selection in criminal law trials (2) the most effective methods of engaging in jury selection (3) how to think critically and strategically about voir dire questioning and juror challenges.

This course will be taught as an accelerated course. Class will meet for first 7 weeks only.

Discussion – 2 hours. This course will examine major cases, statutes, and events in the law, both on the books and in action, dealing with nonwhites. The course will include discussion of the situation of African Americans, Asians, Indigenous People, and Latinx People, from the Colonial era to the present. In addition to examining legal doctrine and policy, it will explore how the contemporary United States has been shaped by racial discrimination.

Seminar - 2 or 3 hours. This seminar explores the ways political units in different countries attempt to maintain social order and advance criminal justice. Students examine the people, policies, and institutions responsible for adjudicating alleged criminal law violations around the globe. They also learn about how rules of professional responsibility and legal ethics guide the behavior of the institutional actors who participate in these criminal processes.

Discussion  - 3 hours. This course examines a range of issues, including bail, charging decisions, preliminary hearings, discovery, statute of limitations, venue, joinder and severance, pleas, plea bargaining, assistance of counsel, trial, double jeopardy, sentencing, appeal and collateral remedies. This course will have a short essay assignment, midterm exam, and a final exam.

Final Assessment: Exam

Basic appellate practice and procedure. Beginning instruction in oral advocacy skills and an opportunity to practice these skills in front of a moot court. Students compete in four rounds of oral arguments which, combined with the second semester of the program, determine the rankings for selecting participants in the annual Neumiller Competition and other interschool competition teams and for membership on the Moot Court Board. Both courses 410A and 410B must be taken in order to qualify for most interschool competitions.

Discussion - 3 hours. This course studies the bases and limits of criminal liability. It covers the constitutional, statutory and case law rules that define, limit and provide defenses to individual liability for the major criminal offenses.

Final Assessment: Exam

Discussion - 3 hours. This course examines the federal constitutional limits on government authority to gather evidence and investigate crime. Topics to be covered include Fourth Amendment limits on search, seizure, and arrest; the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination; and the Sixth Amendment right to counsel. While the course emphasizes current law and the evolution of Supreme Court doctrine, it also considers related policy questions on the role of police in a democratic society.