Course Description:
CRIMLJUS 6030 Criminal Law
| Course Number: | CRIMLJUS 6030 |
| Course Name: | Criminal Law |
| Course Description: | A study of the principles, doctrines, and selected rules of criminal law; the sources of substantive criminal law and historical development of common law principles of criminal responsibility; constitutional constraints on the decision to define behavior as criminal. |
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Level: | Graduate |
| Credits: | 3 |
| Format: | Online |
| Semesters Offered: |
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| Registration Instructions |
Additional Information
Learning Outcomes
This course is structured so that diligent students will achieve the objectives outlined below:
- By the end of this course, students should have an in-depth understanding of substantive criminal law as differentiated from procedural due process.
- Students should also have developed an articulable definition of justice in the criminal justice system of the United States and its membership states as that justice is guaranteed under the proscriptions and prescriptions of governance guided by the Constitution of the United States and the states themselves.
- Further, students should have developed an articulable definition of freedom as reflected in the guarantees of life, liberty, and property under the Constitution, as well as privacy as found in the penumbra of the Constitution.
Unit Descriptions
Unit 1
Your work in this unit will enable you to develop, and in some cases enhance, a personal understanding of criminal law. You'll start by sharing a personal experience that involves an aspect of criminal law, and proceed to explore and operationally define your understanding of substantive criminal law.
Unit 2
In Unit 2, we explore a more complicated and less intuitive area of substantive criminal law, where the behavior may not be as directly attributable to the alleged perpetrator, nor may culpability be as neatly assigned. We deal first with complicity and parties to a crime, some of whom may not have committed the most grievous act. Next we study an area of crime where there may not have been an act at all, but only a plan to act. We then look at whether there was justification in the act on the part of the perpetrator. Finally, we study excuse for the act on the part of the perpetrator and whether the act is excused at law.
Unit 3
In Unit 3, we study crimes that are personal and against another's life, liberty, and property, as well as crimes that are personal but are viewed by some as victimless crimes.
Unit 4
In Unit 4, we explore and define crimes against the social order and against the government. While the general concept of law in the United States determines that crime is against the state generally, and the state therefore prosecutes defendants on behalf of itself even though individual persons are victimized by the defendant's behavior, in this unit we study explicit crimes against the public order, which are best measured by a moral yardstick. We also study specific crimes against the state itself such as treason, and also crimes determined by the state to be affected by the terms of war, where citizens and non-citizens are determined to be enemy combatants.
Number of Exams
There is one final exam for this course.
Number of Assignments
There are 6 discussions, 8 individual assignments, and a research paper for this course.
Number of Projects
There are 6 group activities for this course.
Grading Information
Summary of Grading Weights
Activities Points
Briefs and Critiques (4) 100 points each
Group Exercises (2) 100 points total
Research Paper 100 points
Final Examination 100 points
Total points for the course 700 points
Scale for Final Grades related to Grading Rubrics
A- Distinguished 90-100% 620-700 total points
B- Proficient 80-89% 540-619 total points
C- Limited 70-79% 460-539 total points
D- Unsatisfactory, but Pass 60-69% 380-459 total points