General Catalog 2022-23

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Review of Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, including analysis of Miranda warnings, police interrogation procedures, coerced confessions, and why innocent people confess. Examination of jury behavior, reliability of eyewitness testimony, and fair trials. Mock trial presentation. Intimate expression and right to define one’s own concept of existence and meaning, using examples of evolving rulings on same-sex marriage, abortion, and right to die. Use and misuse of grand juries in police misconduct cases, including Eric Brown, Michael Garner, and Breonna Taylor cases. Questions of judicial activism, legal precedent, and standards of review. Letter grading.