CRJ 300 - Advanced Criminal Law

Course Structure

This is a hybrid course with class activities taking place in class and online. We will rely on this online course outline, e-mail, and other web-based tools to complete this course. In addition to this site, some content may be included in the Blackboard site designed for this course. Students are responsible for keeping up with assignments, whether discussed in class or online.

UNCP Blackboard Site

Course Objectives

This course includes an analysis of the substantive criminal law studied from the development of the common law tradition to the present.

In this course, the student will:

Develop an understanding of substantive criminal law and the process through which English common-law evolved into the statutory crimes in America.
Learn about the philosophical and policy motives underlying criminal laws and processes.
Examine how the criminal justice system is organized with emphasis on the actors involved.
Study the concepts of criminal responsibility and defenses.
Examine constitutional prohibitions on defining criminal conduct.
Improve critical thinking skills through the analysis of various problems and perspectives.
Develop and practice computer and writing skills.

Readings

Schmalleger, Frank (2006). Criminal Law Today (3e). Prentice Hall. ISBN: 0-13-170287-4

Four online exams are required. These exams will be completed in the Blackboard. These exams are open book/notes and can be completed in collaboration with other students. You can take each online exam as many times as you like within the scheduled period. You will have two hours for each attempt. The highest score will be used to compute your grade.

Remember that Blackboard is heartless regarding deadlines. When time is up you will no longer be able to submit the exam. Make-up exams are given only in extreme circumstances. Otherwise, missed exams are recorded as a zero. No student will be permitted to take more than one make-up exam per semester.

In addition to earning a high score, your goal is to learn the material and prepare for the comprehensive final exam. Note that the final exam is worth 25% of your grade.

Comprehensive Final Exam: (25%)

A comprehensive final exam will be given in class on the assigned date. This cumulative exam will cover any and all material in the readings, lecture, or writing sessions. The final exam includes multiple choice and true/false questions (bring scantron). Many of the questions are the same as seen on the online exams, other questions cover the same range of material, and a few questions may cover subjects that have not been included in previous exams. This is a closed book exam and collaboration is not allowed.

Each student is expected to submit three 500 word essays on topics agreed upon in advance. These articles must be written in a formal style, similar to that used in research papers, including citations (in APA format) and links to related online material. All plagiarism rules apply. This assignment will also include web publication. Requirements for this assignment will be discussed in class and in the "Web Projects" section of the course outline.

Seven assignments are listed in the Blackboard class area. Please complete each assignment by the required due date and submit as directed. Full credit is earned for conscientious effort. Points are deducted for incomplete assignments. The five highest scores will be used to compute final grades. Online Assignments include a range of activities that include internet sites, online research, essays, and online discussion.

Students are expected to attend each class fully prepared to discuss the reading material assigned for that day. The instructor will call upon different students to share what they have learned from the readings with the rest of the class. Each student is expected to come to class with notes on the themes and main points of each of the readings. Attendance will be taken regularly and will be included in the computation of grades, but remember that the focus is on active participation rather than attendance alone.

This course will be better if you talk more and I talk less. I prefer not to dominate the discussion, so each of you will need to remain active throughout the semester. You all have interesting ideas and viewpoints and we learn more by sharing and trying to understand various views.

Deadlines are not suggestions. All written material will rapidly lose points in the days following the due date. Zero points will be awarded for missed assignments.

Any student with a documented disability needing academic adjustments is requested to speak directly to Disability Support Services and the instructor, as early in the semester (preferably within the first week) as possible. All discussions will remain confidential. Please contact Disability Support Services, DF Lowry Building, 910-521-6695. Please see http://www.uncp.edu/dss/ for more information.

Class withdrawal is your responsibility. If you disappear, we will wonder where you are. However, we will not drop you from the class. Withdrawals should follow University procedure. The student is responsible for obtaining all necessary signatures on drop slips.

A very high price can be paid when you are caught cheating. Too high to risk. All written material must be your own composition. Appropriate credit must be given for sources used in developing your ideas and arguments. Provide appropriate citations. It is easy to see when large sections of text have been lifted from other Web pages. This is quite easy to verify as well.

It is not appropriate to submit work that was originally completed for another course.

NOTE: The penalties for engaging in any of these acts of academic misconduct will be determined on a case-by-case basis, but will follow general university guidelines as to severity.

Classroom climate is not solely the Professor's responsibility. We encourage each of you to engage in conversation on any issue. The University is a place for free speech, limited through individual choice. These choices may be altered with awareness of the real or potential reaction of others. However, you should not be intimidated into keeping quiet. We do not condone racist, sexist, homophobic, or other hateful speech. You are all adults, capable of understanding generally accepted rules of conduct and modifying your behavior in an effort to comply with these social or legal expectations. You are responsible for your behavior.

If grades are made available online, be advised that if there is any error the grade you receive from the registrar is your official grade. Grade changes will be made only in cases of data or computation error. Please do not ask, beg, or otherwise attempt to change a properly computed grade.

Click the "Calendar," and "Web Content" buttons at the top of this page to review class expectations. Assignments and due dates are listed in the calendar page. Be sure you review the entire Outline and Calendar within the first few days of the semester. This course outline is intended to define much of what will happen throughout this course. Changes are possible. Any changes will be clearly presented to the class and will often include class discussion. Changes will apply to all students enrolled in this course, without regard to whether they were involved in the discussion.