Criminal Law and Procedure

Course CRJU 3410

Criminal Law and Procedure

(3 credits)

Spring 2015

Tuesdays and Thursdays,6:30-7:45 p.m.

Herbert Adams, Jr., J.D., M.P.A.
Office Location: G116, The Arts and Sciences Building
Office Hours: Thursdays: 5:30-6:30p.m. or by Appointment.
Office Phone: 678-466-4712
Email:

Course Description

This course provides an overview of criminal law and the fundamental elements of criminal procedures, including methods and rules of police investigation and arrest, adjudication, sentencing and appellate review by higher courts.

Textbook(s) and Other Sources

1. Daniel E. Hall, Criminal Law and Procedure (7th edition)
2. Occasional handouts, Court Cases, and journal articles (copies may be posted on Blackboard)
3. Newspapers, such as The New York Times and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Time magazine

Course Prerequisites

CRJU 1150.

Computer Requirements

You are required to have ready access throughout the semester to a notebook computer that meets faculty-approved hardware and software requirements for your academic program. For further information on CSU's Official Notebook Computer Policy, please go to http://itpchoice.clayton.edu/policy.htm.

Students are expected to be able to use Microsoft Word, to attach and retrieve attached files via email, and to use a web browser. It is also very important that students know to retrieve and submit assignments via Georgia View (formerly WebCT). Students are expected to visit the course’s Georgia View Blackboard at least once per day, to receive updates and other course related information.

Course Assignments, Grading and Deadlines

Assignment /

Points

/ Weight / Due Dates
Monthly Examinations,incldg. Mid-Term Exam / 145 / 40% / 2/10/15, 3/5/15, 4/14/15
Final Examination / 25 / 25% / Finals Week [5/5-11/15]
Term Paper or Legal Brief / 20 / 25% / 4/23/15
Classroom Participation / 10 / 10% / N/A

Course grades will be based on the following grading scale:

• A =90-100%
• B =80-89.9%
• C =70-79.9%
• D =60-69.9%
• F =below 60%

The instructor reserves the right to change or alter the above formulations, and any other provisions in this syllabus, consistent with the policies of Clayton State University. To the extent of any conflict or inconsistency in the same, the policies of the University shall control.

Final Exam (25%): This test will include multiple choice and true-false answer items. The Final Examination is generally comprehensive, i.e., encompassing everything covered in the semester. A preparatory review for the Final Exam will be held on the last day of class (April 30, 2015). You will be given a designated period of time during which you can complete the Exam.

There will be NO make-up exams, unless extreme circumstances (e.g., illness) arise, and ONLY after your instructor’s permission.

Participation (10%): It is crucial that you contribute meaningfully to class discussion and activities, and do your homework when assigned. The main homework assignment is to read the designated textbook chapters BEFORE class. Classroom participation will be graded two ways: by speaking in class and/or attending class. Speaking up in class, whether to ask or answer questions, or to make salient comments about the material covered in the course, is important. While many people are reluctant to express themselves verbally, I will enforce a supportive classroom atmosphere so that even the shiest of students may feel comfortable. Nonetheless, if you are not brave enough to talk in the classroom, you can certainly come to class. Accordingly, whomever achieves perfect attendance during this semester will receive the full 10% classroom participation on their final grade. Others may receive the full 10% by speaking intelligently and appropriately, during classroom discussions, on a consistent basis.

Note: You are welcomed and encouraged to react to others’ (mine included) views and statements, but make sure you do that in a respectful and professional manner. If you have an objection, object to the view with which you disagree, not to the person.

Monthly Tests (40%): I need to assess whether you keep up with the readings each week. Therefore, beginning in February, you will have to take one exam each month, including the Mid Term Examination, that will test you on material discussed in your text book and in each lecture.

Paper/Legal Brief (25%): You must write a term paper about a legal topic or a legal brief about a Supreme Court decision. I will providea guide to legal briefs to you. Your textbook also offers a very good guide to this on page 37 and in Appendix C. However, you will need to follow the guide to write this (meaning you will need to add sections 6 and 7). Section 7 (the analysis) is particularly important, as it requires you to connect the decision to broader issues AND most importantly to your life and how you think it has affected it. It will also give you the opportunity to express your feelings and opinions, something that is rarely acceptable in law courses. Proper punctuation and grammar are also essential. The key to the legal brief is your own industry and original, creative writing. In other words, above all, the brief must be YOUR work; not that of somebody else.

How do you decide which paper to write or case to brief? I will decide whether a paper or brief is required and then provide a list of topics or cases. It varies by semester, but you will be notified well in advance of the due date.

How do you FIND detailed information about the topic or the actual case (court decision)? You can find it in many places, beginning with the campus library.This will be part of the exercise.

When do you turn this in? At the time designated in this syllabus, and not later.

How many pages? From 1-2 pages (no more, no less). NTR 12p. fonts, double-spaced, and 1” margins all around.

Very Important: DO NOT CHEAT. There’s no need to hide this from you: There are term papers and briefs available online covering virtually any legal topic or court case. I can find them as easy as you can, so I donot need you to find them for me. I want to hear from you. If you submit someone else’s work, I will know. I may also submit your work on Turnitin, so donot cheat. [See paragraph # 8 below.]

General Policy

Students must abide by policies in the Clayton State University Student Handbook, and the Basic Undergraduate Student Responsibilities.

University Attendance Policy

Students are expected to log in and participate as part of their learning in the course. Instructors establish specific policies relating to absences in their courses and communicate these policies to the students through the course syllabi. Individual instructors, based upon the nature of the course, determine what effect excused and unexcused absences have in determining grades and upon students’ ability to remain enrolled in their courses. The university reserves the right to determine that excessive absences, whether justified or not, are sufficient cause for institutional withdrawals or failing grades.

Course Attendance Policy

Students are expected to access the (online) course materials and participate in the required discussions, activities and assignments. Any student who fails to attend the orientation session or complete a scheduled assignment during the first week of class will be reported to as a “No Show”.

Missed Work

Without excuse, a grade of zero points will be assigned for the missed work. If you have a conflict, you are expected to discuss it with me prior to the due date for the assignment so other arrangements might be made.Valid excuses include documented health issues (such as giving birth), illness, death in the family, or other catastrophic events (snow storm, etc). Work-related conflicts, computer crashes, car problems, helping friends move, going on a trip, homelessness, divorce, and other such mishaps that for some reason are very common around course deadlines and quizzes do not qualify as valid excuses. Needless to say, valid reasons will not qualify as excuses either if not well documented (If for example you missed a quiz because you were sick, you need to provide me with a doctor’s note indicating NOT the type of illness, but the days you were out. Only if those days overlap with the quiz date will you be excused. This is particularly important for online tests as those are typically available for 24-48 hours).

Disabilities

Students with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations need to register with Disability Services in order to obtain their accommodations. You can contact them at 678-466-5445 or . If you are already registered with Disability Services and are seeking accommodations for this course, please make an appointment with me to discuss your specific accommodation needs and give me your accommodations letter.

Academic Dishonesty

Any type of activity that is considered dishonest by reasonable standards may constitute academic misconduct. The most common forms of academic misconduct are cheating and plagiarism. All instances of academic dishonesty will result in a grade of zero for the work involved. All instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Office of Student Life/Judicial Affairs. Judicial procedures are described athttp://adminservices.clayton.edu/judicial/.

What constitutes academic dishonesty:

Plagiarism is defined as the act of using the ideas or work of another person or persons as if they were one’s own, without giving credit to the source. Such an act is not plagiarism if it is ascertained that the ideas were arrived at through independent reasoning or logic or where the thought or idea is common knowledge. Acknowledgment of an original author or source must be made through appropriate references, i.e., quotation marks, footnotes, or commentary. Examples of plagiarism include, but are not limited to, the following: the submission of a work, either in part or in whole, completed by another; failure to give credit for ideas, statements, facts or conclusions which rightfully belong to another; in written work, failure to use quotation marks when quoting directly from another, whether it be a paragraph, a sentence, or even a part thereof; or close and lengthy paraphrasing of another’s writing or programming. Cut-pasting huge chunks of written work (typically from some website) IS ALSO PLAGIARISM even if placed in between quotation marks and cited correctly: You need to submit work that is original, meaning work that you carefully put together; just copying other people’s work is not original.A student who is in doubt about the extent of acceptable paraphrasing should consult the instructor. Students are required to follow APA citation guidelines in all written assignments. A helpful guide to APA style is posted on the course website, and individual help will also be provided by your instructor if needed.

Cheating is defined as the act of obtaining or attempting to obtain or aiding another to obtain academic credit for work by the use of any dishonest, deceptive or fraudulent means. Examples of cheating during an examination include, but are not limited to the following: copying, either in part or in whole, from another’s test or examination; discussion of answers or ideas relating to the answers on an examination or test unless such discussion is specifically authorized by the instructor; giving or receiving copies of an examination without the permission of the instructor; using or displaying notes, “cheat sheets,” or other information or devices inappropriate to the prescribed test conditions, as when the test of competence includes a test of unassisted recall of information, skill, or procedure; or allowing someone other than the officially enrolled student to represent the same. Also included in plagiarism is altering or interfering with grading procedures. It is often appropriate for students to study together or to work in teams on projects. However, such students should be careful to avoid the use of unauthorized assistance, and to avoid any implication of cheating, by such means as sitting apart from one another in examinations, presenting the work in a manner that clearly indicates the effort of each individual, or such other method as is appropriate to the particular course.

Student Code of Conduct

Behavior that disrupts the teaching–learning process during class activities will not be tolerated. While a variety of behaviors can be disruptive in a classroom setting, more serious examples include belligerent, abusive, profane, and/or threatening behavior. A student who fails to respond to reasonable faculty direction regarding online behavior and/or behavior while participating in online course activities may be dismissed from class. A more detailed description the Student Code of Conduct can be found at http://adminservices.clayton.edu/studentconduct/SCC--text%20version%202009-10.pdf. For more information on the disciplinary policy please go to http://adminservices.clayton.edu/studentconduct/DP--text%20version%202009-10.pdf.

I very much welcome students’ comments, questions, and concerns. Please do not hesitate to share them with me in person or via email. I will try to respondback within a short period of time. However, there is a certain etiquette that I would appreciateyour following in these communications:

1. First, emailing me is the best way to contact me. Phone calls are fine, but I do not think the telephone in the adjunct faculty’s office has voicemail.

1. Make sure you do not reply to emails that I send to the whole class (you can reply of course to emails I send to you individually). If you hit “reply” everybody will receive your email. It may also confuse me and in turn make me hit “reply” as well. Again, the whole class will receive our emails. I personally do not think that this is a disaster, but I understand that it may annoy others, or may cause you to feel as if your privacy was jeopardized. No need for that: Just ALWAYS email me at .

1. This should not need to be in the syllabus, but I expect that most, if not all, of you know how to be polite. I don’t mean to sound patronizing, but I would not enjoy receiving an email that read something like:

When is the exam?

In this day and age (with texting, smartphoning, facebooking and the like), many of us have become accustomed to that type of communication and do not realize that it is actually not appropriate to do that with your professors, colleagues, boss, etc. Others may not have an issue with this, but I want to prevent this from happening at all.

Speaking of which, some questions I will NOT respond to even if they are addressed in the proper etiquette. Questions like the one I quoted above, is an example. Any question that can be answered by reading the syllabus I will probably ignore. THIS INCLUDES QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW GRADES WERE CALCULATED AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER. No. If you have questions about how grades WILL be calculated, read the respective section in this syllabus and ask me to clarify NOW, not when you receive the final grade in this class (By the way, always check your grades on gradebook to make sure everything is recorded correctly and if you feel that there are any discrepancies, let me know ASAP).

1. I appreciate any feedback. If there is something that doesn’t work for you in this course, please let me know, but make sure to not be rude about it. I care about your progress and I will do anything possible to not impede it; the opposite is my goal. We will discuss any issues peacefully and try to find a way to resolve them. However, one thing I will not be able to do is change, that is, lower my standards and expectations of you. They are both high, and I know you are capable of meeting them. This is not going to be easy and it is not supposed to be. It is supposed to be challenging and labor intensive (within logical limits of course) for you and for me (If you have to write one paper, well, I have to grade all of them!) and that is why it will be rewarding when you pass this course, especially if you pass it with a good grade. This is a 4-year university and this department is very serious, so if you are taking this class because you think it will be “quick and easy” this is not the class for you, and I am certainly not the teacher for you.

Here’s my point: Please do NOT ask me to drop chapters/assignments/tests, or to cut you some slack because you have a job/other classes/kids/a life and the like. I understand! I’ve been there and I know it can be painful. And you are not the only one who has obligations.

1. Turn-around time: How soon will I grade your work? It depends on what else is going on. However, I will try to return papers/briefs within 2 weeks, and tests/quizzes and other small-scale assignments within 1 week. These are goals. If I grade faster than that sometimes, it still does not mean that I will continue to do so. ONLY ask me “Why haven’t you graded this yet?” if it’s been more than 2 weeks since I received it, OK? Actually, in that type of situation, you SHOULD ask me, as such a delay may indicate some sort of error on my or your behalf.

1. Keep track of your work. Your grade is YOUR responsibility, not mine. Always follow what’s going on with your standing carefully. I will not remind you of deadlines, and I will not inquire after you if I haven’t heard from you lately; I will not draw your attention to your grade if you are failing. Again, pay attention.

1. Student notebook computers will not be used in the classroom in this course unless the student is using it to read the textbook electronically and does not have a “hard” copy of the textbook. Computers will be required to access course materials and to communicate with your instructor outside the classroom.

1. Students agree that by taking this course all required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. You should submit your papers in such a way that no identifying information about you is included.

1. Last, you must read and understand this syllabus. Unless otherwise stated, I will assume you have read and understood everything by the second week of class.

Tentative Course Schedule (Subject to Change)