Courses

    Courses in criminal law tend to focus on the "front end" of the criminal justice process: investigation, prosecution, and verdict. But for those offenders sentenced to prison, the trial process is only the preamble to an extended period in the custody of the state. In this class, we'll be focusing on the law and policy of incarceration, the "back end" of the criminal justice system. Broadly put, the central questions to be addressed are these: As a legal matter, what obligations (whether constitutional or statutory) does the state have toward those it incarcerates? And given legal limits, how should we run the prisons? These questions are particularly urgent given the current size of the nation's prison population; as of 2007, there were over 2.3 million people in America's prisons and jails, more prisoners per capita than any other country in the world. Topics to be covered include: the history of prisoners' rights litigation; the scope of prisoners' constitutional rights; inmate access to the courts; the prison disciplinary process; conditions of confinement (including supermax prisons); medical care; and the problems of prison rape and overcrowding. There will be a take-home final examination.