Criminal Law (LAW) (LCR)

LCR 905 - Criminal Law

Credits: 3

The course covers the concepts and topics typical of substantive criminal law courses. We investigate the elements that define crimes and defenses. We look at certain constitutional doctrines as bearing on the limits of legislative authority to define conduct as criminal. The course offers a good opportunity to practice the skills of statutory interpretation, and confronts students with the policy and ethical questions underlying choices and implementation about what conduct should be defined as criminal, and under what circumstances the law should recognize excuses or justifications for otherwise criminal conduct. This course cannot be taken for an S/U grade.

Grade Mode: Letter Grading

LCR 906 - Criminal Procedure: The Law of Criminal Investigation

Credits: 3

This course is best understood as "Cops, Robbers and the Constitution." It falls within the categories of constitutional law and criminal practice. It focuses on the Fourth , Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and investigates the constitutional regulation of police investigatory activity from one's first encounter with the police through the beginning of trial. Its principal focus relates to the law governing searches and seizures, and the law regulating police interrogation of suspects though it will also cover a few other related topics. Eligibility: Required JD course. Course format: lecture. Recommended for taking the bar exam. Grading: other (see syllabus), 100%. No S/U grade.

Grade Mode: Letter Grading

LCR 907 - Criminal Procedure: The Law of Criminal Adjudication

Credits: 2-3

The course covers major topics in the adjudicatory process. At the end of the semester, you should be conversant with the most important doctrines in the areas covered. This means that you will not only know the black-letter rule in those areas in which there are black-letter rules, but also that you will understand how to construct legal arguments about disputes that are not clearly resolved by precedent. We strive for an understanding not only of the surface structure of the criminal adjudicatory process, but also for an understanding of the competing values and policies that the rules reflect.

Grade Mode: Letter Grading

LCR 914 - CyberCrime

Credits: 3

As society becomes more dependent on data and networks to operate our businesses, government, national defense and other critical functions, the risks posed by hacking, ‘malware’ and cyberattacks escalate. Although cybercrimes can be analogized to more traditional criminal law violations, the technology that offenders employ is very new, making hackers more elusive and the damage they cause often more widespread. Cybercrime examines both new and traditional laws that govern damage caused to or through networks, especially the Internet. With good preparation, good class attendance and constructive participation, students will gain the following: 1. an intermediate technical understanding of cyberattacks; 2. knowledge of conduct that is prohibited under security and privacy laws; and 3. an ability to critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of security laws and relevant case law. Cybercrime will provide students with a competitive advantage for practicing law in this cutting-edge field.

Grade Mode: Letter Grading

LCR 921 - Human Trafficking I

Credits: 3

This seminar will explore legal and social issues confronting both human trafficking survivors (foreign nationals and U.S. citizens) and law enforcement within the United States and globally. The seminar will begin with an overview of legal systems for prosecuting traffickers and legal systems affecting survivors of human trafficking, including international law, U.S. criminal, immigration law and labor law. The seminar will then be devoted to exploring advocacy efforts in the U.S. Congress and executive branch to date to hold traffickers accountable while providing assistance to victims of trafficking. In particular, the seminar will look at: U.S. Congress’ efforts to combat trafficking through the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, and executive branch action and federal appropriations funding to implement the Act. The class will also cover challenges to these efforts including inter-agency coordination, definitional issues and political and ideological cleavages within the broader anti-trafficking movement. The seminar will also focus on the Department of State's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, the Department of Justice's efforts to prevent and prosecute human trafficking and protect the victims of trafficking, the Department of Labor's efforts to better document and deter trafficking and the Department of Health and Human Services efforts to provide services to victims of trafficking, especially children.

Grade Mode: Letter Grading

LCR 922 - International White Collar Crime

Credits: 3

It was Edwin Sutherland, an American sociologist of the early 20th century who first began to appreciate and understand white collar crime and distinguish it from other criminality. He was also the first to define it, calling it "crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation". Today, international white collar crime is a global phenomenon which reaches into the highest levels of transnational business and commercial behavior, government, and politics. It includes, but is not limited to, old fashioned graft and corruption, tax evasion, money laundering, securities and market manipulation, banking and insurance violations and fraud, influence peddling and even election fixing. This course is intended to provide the ICLJ’s advanced students with a thorough understanding of what white collar crime is, where it is, how it is executed, what is being done to combat it, and what dangers it presents to established and emerging nations. The course will examine the approaches to these problems used in countries that have a strong interest dealing with white collar criminal issues. In addition, international best practices and standards will be critically assessed.

Grade Mode: Letter Grading

LCR 923 - International Legal Research

Credits: 2

Students learn the standard sources used in foreign and international law as well as tools and strategies needed to effectively research a relevant topic in this online, asynchronous class. Weekly modules include an introduction coupled with weekly hands-on exploration of international law using subscription electronic sources and free internet tools. Research strategy is discussed and used to create research plans (living documents for tracking and evaluating your research progress). A research guide on an international legal topic is the capstone project that allows students to practice and solidify the process and method of foreign and international legal research. Students report on research process and discuss obstacles and strategies. This course cannot be taken for an S/U grade.

Grade Mode: Letter Grading

LCR 924 - International Criminal Law and Justice Seminar

Credits: 3

This course is a survey of the field of international criminal law. It asks students to consider foundational questions about what counts as an international crime; when an individual country may have jurisdiction over crimes that occur outside the country’s boundaries and when and over what crimes an international body may have jurisdiction. It introduces students to the international criminal court; the special tribunals; domestic and international efforts to combat terrorism and an array of transnational crimes like drug trafficking, cybercrimes, white-collar crimes etc. This course cannot be taken for an S/U grade.

Grade Mode: Letter Grading

LCR 925 - Comparative Criminal Justice Systems

Credits: 3

Only a small portion of international criminal law disputes are resolved in some form of international court like the International Criminal Court or a special tribunal. The majority are instead resolved in a domestic court system, meaning that, effectively, the practice of international criminal law occurs in a number of different criminal justice systems. This course familiarizes students with the varieties of criminal justice systems around the world. Though each country or region has its own individual system tailored to its history and culture, regional and cultural similarities exist in the structure and approach of individual systems. The course will ground students in the major types of criminal justice systems around the world, from the Anglo-American system to a European system to an Islamic system. The course will look both at individual systems from countries that have a strong presence in the world of international criminal law and at the general principles that underlie the differences in major systems.

Grade Mode: Letter Grading

LCR 926 - International Criminal Court and Special Tribunals

Credits: 3

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the only permanent international mechanism for prosecuting international crimes. Though the scope of its jurisdiction is limited, it has had a powerful presence in the development of international criminal law principles. The special tribunals for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and for Rwanda (ICTR), both UN-created ad hoc tribunals, have played a significant role in the aftermath of two international crises. This course will ground students in the jurisdictional scope of the ICC; the substantive definition of crimes within its jurisdiction; its procedural rules and the substance and nature of its rulings. The course will also ground students in the practice, procedure of the ICTY and the ICTR.

Grade Mode: Letter Grading

LCR 927 - Piracy and Terrorism

Credits: 2

This course will explore the law and practice relating to crimes of terrorism and piracy. We will explore how states have come to define and prosecute these crimes and the subsequent implications for individual liberties, international norms, and the ever evolving role of the state in protecting national security. Course materials will include treaties, statutes, case law, historical essays, contemporary commentary and news articles, executive orders, and other works. We will cover various themes including: competing international and domestic definitions of the crimes of terrorism and piracy; the law governing states’ jurisdiction to prosecute such crimes; the nexus between terrorism and piracy and the laws of armed conflict—such as that governing detention, trials, and targeted killing; as well as the law governing surveillance for counter-terrorism purposes and the anti-piracy efforts of non-state actors. The course will focus on contemporary U.S. law and policy, but will also provide historical context.

Grade Mode: Letter Grading

LCR 928 - Drugs and Weapons Trafficking

Credits: 3

Weapons and drug trafficking are among the largest underground industries in the world. Generating hundreds of billions of dollars in annual revenue, and spawning a global industry of money laundering, trafficking has profound effects not only in the developing world but also in the well-established economies of Europe, Asia and North America. Trafficking leads also to a series of collateral social issues including increased crime rates, profound societal effects and costs, rampant public corruption and large-scale funding of terrorist activities. This course familiarizes students with the origins and present state of international trafficking in weapons and drugs and the money laundering practices used to conceal it from detection. It includes an examination of how trafficking is conducted on a global scale, what efforts have been undertaken to combat it, and what the international community is doing to address the many complex issues involved. International standards and cross-cultural obstacles are examined, as are political implications. The course will examine the approaches to these problems used in countries that have a strong interest or participation in trafficking. In addition, international best practices and standards will be critically assessed.

Grade Mode: Letter Grading

LCR 929 - Capstone Research Project

Credits: 3

This course serves as the capstone to the process begun with the International Criminal Law Survey course. Students will complete a significant research and writing project on a subject of their choice under the supervision of a faculty member. The project will include a set of deadlines for outlines and drafts as well as frequent interaction with the Professor. The emphasis will be on a product reflective of a significant analytical effort rather than a merely broad descriptive one.

Grade Mode: Letter Grading

LCR 931 - The Innocence Practicum

Credits: 1

Students will be assigned cases that the New England Innocence Project is screening to determine whether they are worthy of litigation. Through the course of one or more semesters, students will investigate every detail of the case from reading transcripts, doing legal research and interviewing witnesses to acquiring case files from prior attorneys and searching for still-existing evidence in court files and/or police custody. They will most often meet with the defendant (who at this point is not their client.) for an interview to gather additional information.

Repeat Rule: May be repeated for a maximum of 2 credits.

Grade Mode: Law Satisfactory/Unsatisfactry