Fall 2016 Sections .060
University of Texas at Tyler
Online Course
Dr. Jennifer Klein
Office: BUS 229
Office Hours: T/TH11:30-1:00pm or by appointment
Phone: (903) 566-7438
Email:
Course Objectives: This course is a study of substantive issues in criminal law. Throughout the semester, we will be exploring the fundamental concepts and the evolution of criminal law through the use of lecture materials and case briefings. In addition, you will learn the elements of specific crimes and their related defenses. Specific consideration will be given to the historical development of criminal law and the constantly changing social and legal definitions of crime, and the nature of criminal sanctions.
At the end of the semester, you will be able to:
1)Describe the fundamental elements of criminal law, intent, and action
2)Describe the history of American criminal law and its evolving nature
3)Dissect legal argument derived from case law
4)Explain criminal liability in regards to personal, property, and corporate crime
5)Make intelligently arguments regarding current shifting legal policies
Course Materials:
1)REQUIRED Text: Lippman, Matthew. (2013). Essential Criminal Law. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
2)A reliable Internet connection and a computer to complete all online components of the course.
Course Policies
Course Grade: Your course grade for the semester is dependent on the work that you put into the class. I do not curve grades; no do I offer extra credit at the end of the semester. Please do not ask for extra points at the end of the semester that would boost you to the next letter grade – they will not be given.
This semester will be broken up into three units; each of which will conclude with an exam. You will be responsible for the assigned readings and work that is due at each designated time before the exam. As this is an online class, part of it will require you to work at your own pace, but you will have deadlines to keep you on track. Just like in a F2F class, the work you put into studying and preparing for my quizzes and exams will help you achieve the grade you are desiring at the end of the semester.
Beginning of the Semester Quizzes
To ensure you are prepared for the semester, you will have two activities to do in the first days of class. First, I am now requiring that students read this syllabus thoroughly and completely outside of class. You will then take an online quiz to test your comprehension of the material covered here. Think of this syllabus as a binding contract – if you violate its rules and regulations, you will be penalized. The syllabus quiz should be completed by Tuesday, January 26th at 12:30pm (the beginning of class that day). This assignment can be found in the “Syllabus Materials” folder on Blackboard and will be worth 20 points toward your final grade. Late submissions will not be accepted.
Last semester, I encountered multiple instances of plagiarism in all of my classes. Some of you may think that you are writing papers correctly and are not guilty of plagiarism, but are unaware of what really constitutes this violation. Therefore, you will be required to review material on plagiarism and APA citation skills before this class begins in earnest. If – after you review this material – you plagiarize in my class, you will automatically fail the assignment and possibly the entire course as that is within my discretion as a professor. This is your one warning. The plagiarism materials and quiz should be completed by Tuesday, January 26th at 12:30pm (the beginning of class that day). This assignment can be found in the “Writing Resources” folder on Blackboard and will be worth 20 points toward your final grade. Late submissions will not be accepted.
Exams: You will have three exams this semester. Each exam will be worth 100 points. They will take place at the end of each unit as shown in your course schedule. You will have on attempt to take each exam, and they will be timed. That means you will not have the opportunity to search your book and other materials for answers as you make your way through the exam. Preparation is key in this instance.
Because there are a lot of intricacies to criminal law and you have your course materials, I expect you to be able to produce very detailed answers to my exams. The exams will be in matching, multiple choice and essay format. You will be given an offense scenario and several follow-up questions. You will be required to write as much as is necessary to answer all parts of the prompt. While exams are not necessarily cumulative in the traditional sense, you may be required to pull in information from earlier lectures due to the building natures of these concepts.
Makeup exams will only be given with a medical note to excuse the student, and if the professor is informed within 2 days of the exam that the student is ill. I do not allow students to make up exams simply because they forgot or were unprepared.
Online Preparation Activities: Each week, you will be required to complete several online activities that will help you prepare for your exams. This will require you to watch one recorded lectures, take a reading quiz, a lecture quiz, and complete a short written prompt for each chapter of the book. In addition, you will have an activity that requires you to apply the material you have learned to the activity in question.
Each reading quiz will consist of 10 multiple choice/true-false questions derived from the text. This will assess how well you are reading the chapters and digesting the information. Reading quizzes will be worth 10 points per quiz and cannot be made up unless there are extenuating circumstances.
Lecture quizzes will consist of 3-4 questions derived from the lecture materials. You must watch the lecture in order to complete the associated quiz. These quizzes will be worth 5 points each and cannot be made up unless there are extenuating circumstances.
You will also have four short quizzes associated with the Supreme Court cases you are required to read. These quizzes are meant to test your comprehension of the cases and to make sure you are picking up on the large issues of the case. This will also ensure that you are understanding the cases before you complete your case briefs. These quizzes will be worth 5 points each and cannot be made up unless there are extenuating circumstances.
Short writing assignments will consist of one prompt associated with the weekly topics. Students must write between 250 – 500 words (relevant words and not fluff) in order to successfully complete the prompt. Students will also properly cite their responses and provide a reference list in proper APA style in order to get accustomed to the process of citing and referencing supporting information. Students will lose points if they do not properly cite or meet the word count requirement for the activity. Each writing assignment is worth 10 points.
*** All online activities are due at 11:59pm on Friday for each chapter.***
Online Application Activities: As this is an online class, much of the lecture you receive will come from the online lectures posted in each folder. In addition to your preparation activities, you will complete 1-2 activities per week. Each activity must be completed before the due date to receive credit. These application activities will differ from week to week and will count for 25 points each. Each activity will be due at 11:59pm on Friday of each week for each chapter.
Case Briefs: This semester, we will be reviewing state and US Supreme Court cases that explain the topics covered it that day’s readings. Students will be required to five complete case briefs during the semester. You will be required to complete each case brief before the Friday deadline during the assigned weeks.
Case briefs will be checked for plagiarism and you should do your best to paraphrase the cases. I understand that the legal language of the SCOTUS cases may be daunting at first given the level of reference that they include in their cases, but do your best to succinctly review and break down these cases. If you have questions about the cases, please get in touch with me with enough time before the cases are due.
You will be required to complete the entire case – any missing sections will result in a deduction. If you have never completed a brief before this class, there is a how-to guide posted on Blackboard. Although I know that no one in this class would ever do such a thing, there are online briefs of these cases. Do not find them and plagiarize. I will know. I have provided the cases and templates to complete on Blackboard. You should turn the cases in via a Word Document or in PDF form. There will be five briefs to complete this semester and each brief will be worth 25 points.
Final Semester Paper: Additionally, you will have one final semester paper that you will need to complete and turn in on November 18th at 11:59pm. No late papers, no exceptions.
This assignment should be a minimum of five-pages (double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12-point font, 1” margins), which addresses one of two written prompts provided. This assignment is an opportunity for you to form a legal argument and put your skills to work! The following two topics have been controversial issues to say the least. You may choose to write your paper on:
- Legalization of recreational marijuana
- Use of the sex offender registry for everyone convicted of a felony sex offense
- Criminal liability for corporate executives for corporate crimes
Although we will touch briefly on these topics this semester, they have been referenced in lecture, in your textbook, and to some extent in your case briefs. It is now up to you to apply all of the information from class – and outside sources – to argue a position on one of these three topics. The full prompts for both topics can be found on Blackboard in the Final Paper folder.
To get you thinking ahead of time, you must get approval from me ahead of time regarding your paper and your initial research sources. This requires you to come to office hours (if you are on campus), or email me to talk me about your chosen topic. In addition to the chosen prompt, you must provide the following items:
- An initial thesis statement regarding the paper
- A subsequent preliminary annotated biography of at least five “approved” sources
- “Approved” sources are either articles in scholarly journals, law reviews or periodicals, cases or summations of legal proceedings, and legal treatises. If you are unsure of a source please consult me.
Failure to meet with me or email meby September 30th at 11:59pm will result in a 20-point deduction from your paper. This means that you have received approval from me by that deadline – not that you have emailed me by that time. No not wait until the last minute to get approval – if you email me the day of the deadline there is not a guarantee that I will be able to respond to your email, especially if working business hours are complete.
You are required to use a minimum of five sources that are separate from the book or the cases found within. This does not mean that you should only cite those sources once and call it a day. Wikipedia is never a source and points will be taken off for using it. This paper must be properly cited using APA formatting and a reference list must be included in the final submission. Points will be taken off for incorrect citation style and for lack of a reference list. This assignment is worth 100 points toward your final grade. A grading rubric will be provided on Blackboard.
Late Work Policy
No late work will be accepted from students, unless there is a medically valid reason for a late submission. Students will need documentation and decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis. Students should work ahead to ensure they submit all work on time. Makeup exams will only be given with a medical note to excuse the student, and if the professor is informed within 2 days of the exam that the student is ill. I do not allow students to make up any work simply because they forgot or were unprepared.
Final Grade
Your grade will consist of points awarded to the successful completion of the following components:
- Syllabus quiz 20 points
- Plagiarism quiz 20 points
- 3 written exams (100 points each)300 points
- 5case briefs (25 points each)125 points
- Final paper 100 points
- 4application activities (25 points each)100 points
- 12 online reading quizzes (10 points each)120 points
- 12 online lecture quizzes (5 points each) 60 points
- 12 short writing assignments (10 points each)120 points
(965 total points)
Letter Grades will be assigned as follows:
Total Points / Letter Grade / Grade Points965 – 869 / A / 4.0
868.5 – 722 / B / 3.0
721.5 – 676 / C / 2.0
675.5 – 579 / D / 1.0
578.5 and below / E / 0.0
Additional Policies
Email Policy
I like to keep open lanes of communication between students and myself. If you need to ask any questions or discuss anything class related, please do not hesitate to email me or call me during office hours. As I said before, please include CRIJ 3326 in the subject line so I know that it is class related. Please do not send any messages through the Blackboard system itself since I do not spend the majority of my time on the website. Also, it is polite to address your instructors by their chosen title. Do not email and simply say “Hey,” as it does not make me the happiest of professors. Proper introductions to emails and a little professionalism go along way with me and with all of your other instructors and professors as well.
You are responsible for checking your email daily. I frequently email students individually or as a group – if I send you an email I assume that you have read it and are informed with the message. It is a pet peeve of mine when students do not check their email – I will not hound you trying to get you to reply to my emails. At most, I will send you two email and if I do not have a response in a reasonable amount of time then I will assume you have chosen not to reply to me and I will act accordingly. For instance, if you submit a paper and I cannot open the attachment I will email to send me another copy of the paper. I will always include a reasonable deadline – if you do not respond by that deadline that I will not grade the paper and you will not receive credit for it. So please check your email. Additionally, you should expect a response from me within 24-48 hours. I do not respond to emails on weekends except for emergencies. I also enjoy sleeping so don’t expect a response at 1am.
Instructor Expectations
Each week of the semester, you have certain assignments and responsibilities to complete – and so do I. While I may not have exams, papers, or assignments graded the day after they are submitted, you can expect that I will have them done in a relatively quick manner. This means that short assignments and exams (which are in essay format) will be graded within a week and longer papers will be completed within two weeks. I will provide feedback on all work.
Students Rights and Responsibilities
To know and understand the policies that affect your rights and responsibilities as a student at UT Tyler, please follow this link:
Grade Replacement/Forgiveness and Census Date Policies
Students repeating a course for grade forgiveness (grade replacement) must file a Grade Replacement Contract with the Enrollment Services Center (ADM 230) on or before the Census Date of the semester in which the course will be repeated. Grade Replacement Contracts are available in the Enrollment Services Center or at Each semester’s Census Date can be found on the Contract itself, on the Academic Calendar, or in the information pamphlets published each semester by the Office of the Registrar.
Failure to file a Grade Replacement Contract will result in both the original and repeated grade being used to calculate your overall grade point average. Undergraduates are eligible to exercise grade replacement for only three course repeats during their career at UT Tyler; graduates are eligible for two grade replacements. Full policy details are printed on each Grade Replacement Contract.
The Census Date is the deadline for many forms and enrollment actions of which students need to be aware. These include:
- Submitting Grade Replacement Contracts, Transient Forms, requests to withhold directory information, approvals for taking courses as Audit, Pass/Fail or Credit/No Credit.
- Receiving 100% refunds for partial withdrawals. (There is no refund for these after the Census Date)
- Schedule adjustments (section changes, adding a new class, dropping without a “W” grade)
- Being reinstated or re-enrolled in classes after being dropped for non-payment
- Completing the process for tuition exemptions or waivers through Financial Aid
State-Mandated Course Drop Policy