Criminal Law and Procedure | DEV-College of Law | Illinois

795: Cybercrime

Chris Davies — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 18:07:49 +0000

This course will explore legal and practical issues that relate to the rapidly evolving world of cybercrime. The goals for the course are to gain an understanding of (1) how new technology has made certain crimes easier to commit and more difficult to investigate and prosecute, and (2) how new technology has created challenges courts in adapting existing legal doctrines to the virtual world.

During the course, we will first examine the elements of several substantive computer crimes, to include computer-related fraud schemes, misuse statutes, child pornography and enticement offenses, cyberterrorism, and others. We will also study sentencing issues. Next, we will consider how cybercrime has caused courts to reconsider traditional approaches and doctrines that were originally designed for conduct committed in the physical world. There will be significant focus on the Fourth Amendment’s application to communications and other data stored on the internet and on digital devices. We will also study the legal and practical limitations that encryption and the dark web pose. Finally, we will review the law of electronic surveillance.

The course will touch on several themes, to include the rules applicable to, and ethical responsibility of corporations in preserving and disclosing data to law enforcement, the balance between security and privacy, jurisdictional and practical limitations of international cybercrime, and the interplay between the First Amendment and certain internet crimes.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: In-class, standard, final exam

795: Military Justice

Krista Gaedtke — Thu, 17 Jun 2021 21:56:06 +0000

This course looks at the military justice system and how well it fits within the Constitution and global practices. We will grapple with contemporary issues stressing the military justice system such as the war on terror, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and racial extremism. In so doing, we will draw on the history of military justice and its sources of authority including the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and the Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM) as well as explore concepts such as “good order and discipline” and the “chain-of-command.” We will address the role of the military commander under the UCMJ; the scope of military jurisdiction over persons and crimes; the different types of crimes established in the UCMJ; military trial practice and procedure and juries; limits on freedom of speech, conscience, association, and identity; the evidentiary and procedural rules under the UCMJ/MCM; punishments; reviews and appeals of court martial convictions and sentences; and military justice during military operations. No prior military experience is necessary. All are welcome and a diversity of perspectives civilian and military is encouraged.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: This course will be evaluated by final examination.

795: Professional Responsibility in the Criminal Law Context

Krista Gaedtke — Mon, 26 Mar 2018 14:54:33 +0000

This course examines the law that governs the activities of lawyers and shapes the legal profession. We will study the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, statutory and common law, the law of legal malpractice, and some procedural and evidence rules. We will spend time on problems that affect real lawyers, with special attention to those problems that affect lawyers who are interested in the criminal law.

This course is eligible to satisfy the Professional Responsibility and Ethics course requirement for graduation.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: Grades will be based on final examination and class participation.

679: Criminal Procedure: Adjudication

Krista Gaedtke — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 16:45:46 +0000

This course deals with problems in the administration of criminal justice, with emphasis upon (1) bail; (2) prosecutorial discretion; (3) the grand jury (the requirement of an indictment; the grand jury as a shield); (4) the preliminary hearing (when required; as a screening process); (5) location of the prosecution (venue); (6) the scope of the prosecution (joinder and severance of offenses; joinder and severance of defendants); (7) the right to speedy trial and to speedy disposition at other steps in the criminal process; (8) coerced, induced, and negotiated guilty pleas (negotiated pleas; the kept bargain, the broken bargain, and the unrealized expectation; professional responsibility, the role of prosecutor and defense counsel; receiving the defendant’s plea, plea withdrawal); (9) notice, discovery, and disclosure (notice through pleadings; pretrial discovery; the prosecutor’s constitutional duty to disclose); (10) trial by jury (jury selection; deliberations and verdict); (11) appeals.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None. Students may take one or both Criminal Procedure courses; enrollment may be separate or concurrent.

Evaluation: Administered final examination

638: White Collar Crime

Krista Gaedtke — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 21:38:15 +0000

This course will focus on the federal statutes commonly invoked in corporate and white collar prosecutions, including those used in prosecutions for conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, RICO, extortion, bribery, tax offenses, obstruction of justice, and false statements. The class will investigate the theoretical and policy framework for individual and institutional responsibility in our criminal justice system and will also explore emerging theories of corporate criminal liability and the principles undergirding the sanctions imposed for white collar crime.

Sequence and Prerequisites: Law 604: Criminal Law. Some students have found it helpful to complete the course in Business Associations (Law 633) and one or both of the Criminal Procedure courses. However, they are not prerequisites.

Evaluation: Administered final examination

798: Comparative Criminal Procedure

Doyle — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:47:57 +0000

This seminar will address a variety of hotly debated issues in comparative criminal procedure, including the regulation of undercover policing, plea bargaining, the sentencing role of criminal juries, the entrapment defense, and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the U.S. Supreme court on the Confrontation Clause. The seminar will look at the ways in which these issues are addressed in the United States and a number of western European legal systems, along with occasional excursions into the treatment of these issues in other legal systems around the globe. We will explore the ways in which plea bargaining, the entrapment defense, and Confrontation Clause requirements affect the choice of investigative tactics across legal systems and the selection among alternative mechanisms for regulating investigations, plea bargaining trials, as well as the sentencing process of the criminal justice system. Many of the issues covered in this seminar raise questions about the methods and limits of transnational cooperation in criminal investigations. A comparative approach to the topics we will cover will make it possible to examine the ways in which different national approaches affect the choice of mechanisms by which law enforcement agencies collaborate across national borders.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: Assignments will include one short paper and one longer term paper.

795: Criminal Practice: Ethics

Doyle — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:47:57 +0000

This course introduces ethical considerations of both prosecutors and defense attorneys in the practice of criminal law. Topics addressed include, but are not limited to: the unique obligation of a prosecutor to seek justice; attorney-client privilege and the crime-fraud exception; discovery issues, including Brady and Giglio obligations; defense counsel conflicts of interest; covert investigations and contact with represented parties; pretrial publicity and social media; and guilty pleas.

This course is eligible to satisfy the Professional Responsibility and Ethics course requirement for graduation.

Prerequisites: It is expected that all students enrolled will have successfully completed the first-year Criminal Law course.

Evaluation: Course grades will be based on an equal combination of a final examination and a presentation.

795: International Criminal Law

Doyle — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:47:57 +0000

This course surveys the major international institutions and laws that can impose criminal liability on individuals. The course will consider the major international crimes, including war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity, and torture. In addition, we will consider some aspects of terrorism. Our focus will be on international institutions such as the International Criminal Court and the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None.

Evaluation: There will be a 3-hour exam administered during the exam period. Class participation may constitute up to 10% of the course grade.

605: Criminal Procedure: Investigations

Chris Davies — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:47:57 +0000

This course deals with selected aspects of the administration of criminal justice. Primary emphasis is placed on the limitations imposed upon the criminal justice system by the Constitution and its amendments. The course focuses on those portions of the criminal justice system relating to the investigation of criminal activity; in depth study of the procedures employed in the processing of criminal cases is postponed until the course in Criminal Procedure: Adjudication (Law 679). The primary matters considered in this course may include the following: (1) the concept of due process and its relation to the investigation and prosecution of criminal activities; (2) the right to counsel; (3) constitutional limitations on arrest, search, and seizure; (4) wiretapping and electronic eavesdropping; (5) police interrogations and the fifth amendment; (6) the entrapment defense; (7) pretrial identification procedures; and, (8) the scope and administration of exclusionary rules intended to deter certain police activity.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None. Students may take one or both Criminal Procedure courses; enrollment may be separate or concurrent.

Evaluation: Final Examination.