This two-credit-hour seminar will explore a variety of areas of the criminal justice system that, despite their importance, necessarily receive little attention in the basic criminal law and procedure courses. Materials will be assigned for approximately the first four weeks of the semester and will examine such topics as: the problem of false confessions; racial and ethnic profiling; the Fourth Amendment implications of DNA databases (and other new technologies); and the Fourth and Fifth Amendment challenges presented by the war on terrorism. Student presentations on topics falling within the framework of the seminar (ideally chosen by the students themselves in consultation with Professor Davies) will fill the remaining weeks of the semester. At the close of the semester, students will be expected to submit a substantial research paper related to their presentation topic. Combined, the assigned materials and the student presentations will provide students with the opportunity to consider a panoply of cutting edge issues related to criminal justice, including such topics as: hate crimes; the crack/cocaine sentencing gap; the future of the Apprendi doctrine; three-strikes laws; Megan’s laws; prosecuting cyber-crime; the constitutional implications of “enemy combatants,” punishments that “shame,” and so forth.
PAPER AND CLASS PARTICIPATION