This seminar discusses on the most pressing current issues and cases across the criminal justice spectrum, from arrest through appeal and collateral attack. Its focus is on the practice of criminal law – how prosecutors and defense lawyers actually develop and use the latest cases and arguments. Some of the subjects include ineffective assistance and the death penalty, sentencing, the "drug court" development, public prosecution, and white collar crime.
Particular attention is paid to the ethical issues that arise in practice. Each student chooses a case from the Supreme Court's current criminal docket and writes about the ethical issues that either arose or should have arisen during any of the stages of the case. Understanding these issues requires a careful investigation of the case history and the way it is developed for the Supreme Court.
The text for the course includes pre-assigned cases from the current Criminal Law Reporter, plus occasional articles and litigation materials in connection with a particular topic. Students should use the class to develop the habit of keeping up with the law in a specialized field like Criminal Procedure where it changes often.