Discussion (1L): Crime and Punishment in American History

This discussion seminar will deal with the relationship between criminal justice and American society, at various points in American history. The emphasis will not be on doctrines of criminal law, or case-law in general, but on the living law, and the ways in which criminal justice arose out of and reflected social norms and the structure of society. Among the topics to be covered: First, a look at criminal justice in the early colonial period, asking what was distinctive about crime and punishment in the small communities of the 17th and 18th centuries. Second, the intimate connection between race and criminal justice, from slavery through the Jim Crow era. Third: corrections and law enforcement -- the penitentiary, police and detective squads, the reform wave in the late 19th century, and what all of these reveal about the nature of American criminality; and the public reaction to crime and punishment. We will also consider informal justice, including the vigilante movement in the American West. Lastly, we want to examine the rise and fall of victimless crime. A strong anti-vice movement in the late 19th century movement led to the Mann Act, red-light abatement, the criminalization of abortion, and controls over sexual behavior in general. The movement culminated in the "noble experiment" of national Prohibition. This was the rise: the fall was first, the end of Prohibition, then the decriminalization of most forms of victimless crimes in the later 20th century. There will be assigned readings in primary source materials. There will be assigned readings in primary source materials. Elements used in grading: Full attendance, reading of assigned materials, and active participation. The seminar will meet four times during the Fall quarter. The first meeting will occur after the first two weeks of regular classes. Exact meeting dates TBA by instructor. Meeting time: 4:15pm - 6:15pm.