CJ - Criminal Justice

This course provides an introduction, overview and survey of the American criminal justice system. Emphasis will be placed on the study of such issues as discretionary decision-making in the administration of justice, community policing, domestic violence intervention and institutional responses to law.

This course is a general topics course allowing faculty and students to study particular topics of interest.

Prerequisite: CJ 230 and PSCI 308 or LWCJ 308; or Permission of Instructor

An introductory, non –scientific survey course in criminalistics and the basics of forensic science. Focus will be on criminal investigations, the recognition, collection, preservation and analysis of physical evidence from the crime scene, to the crime lab, to the courtroom.

Prerequisite: LWPS 230 or Permission of Instructor

This course addresses the substantive study of criminal law, how society declares what conduct is criminal and what punishment should be imposed for such conduct. Such questions as what effect does heredity, environment, poverty, urban life, lack of education and unemployment have on the proclivity for criminal behavior will be examined.

Prerequisites: 12 credits in the major, and permission of the instructor. Reading and/or research in a selected area of criminal justice.

Prerequisites: 15 credits in the major, an overall GPA of 2.5 and permission of the supervising instructor and the director of the Law and Criminal Justice program.

Participation and experience in law and society related settings through supervised full- or part-time work. Placements may be in a variety of settings such as: court systems, states attorneys’ offices, prisons, law enforcement agencies, advocacy organizations or government offices. Grading is on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

Prerequisites: LW 230, CJ 230, PSCI 308 or LWCJ 308 and LW 300 and with permission of the instructor. The Pre-Law Clinic provides students with hands-on experience by conducting investigations, legal research, and preparing real cases for trial. The Clinic has a classroom seminar and collaborative investigative component.

Corequisite: LWCJ 401A. Grading is satisfactory/unsatisfactory. The Pre-Law Clinic provides students with hands-on experience by conducting investigations, legal research, and preparing real cases for trial. The Clinic has a classroom seminar and collaborative investigative component.

Prerequisites: Completion of LWCJ 401A and LWCJ 401B and by permission of the instructor. The Pre-Law Clinic II permits students to continue their PTC client and project work through the spring semester.

Corequisite: LWCJ 401A and LWCJ 401B and by permission of the instructor. The Pre-Law Clinic II permits students to continue their PTC client and project work through the spring semester.

Prerequisite: CJ 230 This course is the capstone experience for the criminal justice focus area in the Law and Criminal Justice major. It is a topics course in which students will collectively explore a current trend or issue in criminal justice and then work individually on a research project of their choice.

Prerequisite: By invitation of the department. The departmental honors paper is a two-semester senior-year program designed for students who wish to pursue intensive research or special projects in close coordination with faculty advisers. Departmental honors students are known as the Christine P. Tischer Scholars and receive 6 credits for this work.