LDST 390 – Section 2 Jeffrey L. Sedgwick Special Topics: Leadership & Criminal Justice Policy Spring 2012 MW 10:30 - 11:45am Jepson 108 This course is designed as an overview of the problem of crime in a liberal regime. It is divided into five topics of investigation: crimes and victims; offenders and the causes of crime; determining guilt; assigning punishment; and the insights into the nature of a liberal society yielded by examining criminal justice. We will spend considerable time thinking about the meaning of punishment. The important question is, what are we trying to do when we punish criminals? Are we trying to rehabilitate the offender, incapacitating him, deterring others from committing the same type of crime, or demanding retribution from the guilty party? This answer to this question is ultimately grounded in an understanding of the individual and his or her capacity for reasonable and responsible action. I. How to find me: Office Number: 234 Jepson Hall Office Hours: MW 11:50 – 1:20pm and by appointment Office Phone: 287-6365 (with voice mail) Home Phone: 560-6816 (emergencies only please!) E-mail: [email protected] II. Texts: the following books are available for purchase at the University Bookstore in Tyler Haynes Commons: Walter Berns, For Capital Punishment: Crime and the Morality of the Death Penalty. Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison. Heather MacDonald, Are Cops Racist? Herman Packer, The Limits of the Criminal Sanction. James Q. Wilson & Joan Petersilia, Crime and Public Policy. Franklin Zimring, The Great American Crime Decline All of these books are also on course reserve at the Boatwright Library; in addition, Herbert Morris, On Guilt and Innocence: Essays in Legal Philosophy and Moral Psychology is on reserve. III. Course Requirements and Grading Criteria: the following assignments are required of each student enrolled in the course: Grading in the course will be based on two brief, six-to-eight page papers (33%), class participation (33%), and a comprehensive final examination (33%). I will not formally take attendance, but you obviously will lose substantial points on your class participation grade if you choose to spend your time elsewhere or if you come to class without having read the assigned readings. Course Outline and Schedule of Readings I. Weeks 1 & 2 (January 9, 11, 16 &18): Crimes and Victims Zimring, The Great American Crime Decline Wilson & Petersilia, Crime and Public Policy, chapters 1, 2 and 19. II. Weeks 3 & 4 (January 23, 25, 30 & February 1): Offenders and the Causes of Crime Wilson & Petersilia, Crime and Public Policy, chapters 3-8, 10, 12 and 13. III. Weeks 5 – 8: Determining Guilt A. The Police (February 6, 8, 13 & 15)Heather MacDonald, Are Cops Racist? Packer, The Limits of the Criminal Sanction, pp. 149-204. Wilson & Petersilia, Crime and Public Policy, chapter 9 and 20. B. Prosecution and Adjudication (February 20, 22, 27 & 29) Packer, The Limits of the Criminal Sanction, pp. 71-148, 205-248. Morris, On Guilt and Innocence. Wilson & Petersilia, Crime and Public Policy, chapters 15 and 16. IV. Weeks 9 & 10 (March 12, 14, 19 & 21): Punishment Packer, The Limits of the Criminal Sanction, pp. 3-70. Wilson & Petersilia, Crime and Public Policy, chapters 11, 14, 17 and 18. V. Weeks 11- 14 (March 26, & 28, April 2, 4, 9, 11, 16 & 18): Criminal Justice in a Liberal Regime Packer, The Limits of the Criminal Sanction, pp. 249-368. Wilson & Petersilia, Crime and Public Policy, chapter 21. Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish. Walter Berns, For Capital Punishment. Abraham Lincoln, "Speech to the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield,