PLSC 252b Crime and Punishment (Fall, 2003)

Yale University, Fall 2003
Lecture: Tuesday and Thursday, 10.30-11.2
Section: TBA

Casiano Hacker-Cordón (Casiano@yale.edu) & Ian Shapiro (ian.shapiro@yale.edu).

This lecture and discussion course deals with topics in the theory, history and contemporary practice of crime and punishment in the United States.

The course is divided into 3 sections: 1) Moral Foundations of the Criminal Law, 2) Criminal Processes and the Politics of the Criminal Law, and 3) The Edges of Punishment and the Criminal Law. Readings are drawn from philosophy, economics, history, literature, political science and case law, among other genres. Our aim is to develop an interdisciplinary perspective in order to challenge common preconceptions and assumptions about the nature of criminal justice in the United States and in modern society more generally.

Materials:

Items marked [B] are books on sale at the Yale University Bookstore.

All other items are in a course reading packet, available for purchase at Tyco, 262 Elm Street, 203-562-9723.

Requirements:

Regular Students:

Midterm Exam: 30%

Final Exam: 60%

Section Participation: 10%

Midterm Exam: 30%

One 6-8 page paper (assigned Nov 04 and due Nov 20): 30%

Final Exam: 30%

Section Participation: 10%

Writing Intensive Students:

Section Participation: 10%

Three 6-8 page papers. Each paper is worth 30% of your grade.

You must rewrite each paper after receiving comments and return it for a second grade. Rewritten papers are due 10 days after they are returned to you.

The first draft of the first paper is due no later than Th Sep 25.

The first draft of the second paper is due no later than Tu Oct 28.
The first draft of the third paper is due no later than Thu Dec 04.

Office Hours:

Hacker-Cordón: Wednesday, 3.45-5.30PM 124 Prospect #101.

Shapiro:

Teaching Fellows: TBA

Course Syllabus

1. Th Sep. 4: Introduction to the Course

I. The Moral Foundations of the Criminal Law

2. Tu Sep. 9: Philosophical foundations I.

(Shapiro).

Devlin, Patrick. “Morals and the Criminal Law.” In Morality and the Criminal Law, ed. Richard Wasserstrom.

Hart, H.L.A. “Immorality and Treason.” In Morality and the Criminal Law, ed. Richard Wasserstrom.

3. Th Sep 11: Philosophical foundations II.

(Shapiro).

Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty. Chs. 1, 4.

Gusfield, Joesph R. 1981. Drinking-Driving and the Symbolic Order. Chapters 5 and 6.

4. Tu Sep 16: Case Study I: The Jurisprudence of Abortion Rights.

(Shapiro).

Shapiro, Ian. ed. Abortion: The Supreme Court Decisions. “Introduction” and the following cases: Griswold v. Connecticut, Eisenstadt v. Baird, Roe v. Wade, Harris v. McRae (1980), Webster v Reproductive Health Services (1990), Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992).

Luker, Kristin. Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood. Chapters 5-7.

5. Th Sep 18: Case Study II: The Jurisprudence of Anti-Sodomy Legislation.

(Hacker-Cordón)

Stanley v. Georgia. (1969)

Bowers v. Hardwick (1984)

Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

Wilson, James Q. “Against Homosexual Marriage”. March 1996. Commentary.

6. Tu Sep 23: Case Study III: The Jurisprudence of Anti-Pornography Legislation. (Hacker-Cordón)

Miller v. California (1973)

New York v. Ferber (1982)

Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition (2002)

7. Th Sep 25: Case Study IV: Flag burning and the Jurisprudence of Free Expression. (Hacker-Cordón)

Cohen v. California (1971)

Texas v. Johnson (1989)

8. Tu Sep 30: Case Study V: Cross-burning and the Jurisprudence of Free Expression. (Hacker-Cordón)

R.A.V. v. St. Paul (1992)

Wisconsin v. Mitchell (1993)

Virginia v. Black (2003)

Green, Donald P., Dara Z. Strolovitch, Janelle S. Wong. 1998. “Defended Neighborhoods, Integration, and Racially-Motivated Crime”, American Journal of Sociology.

Green, Donald P., Laurence H. McFalls, and Jennifer K. Smith. 2001. “Hate Crime.” Annual Review of Sociology.

9. Th Oct. 2: An Economic Efficiency Perspective on the Criminal Law.

(Shapiro)

Posner, Richard. 1985. “An Economic Theory of the Criminal Law.” Columbia Law Review 85: 6. Concentrate on pages 1193-1214, 1229-1231.

Hay, Douglas. 1975. “Property, Authority and the Criminal Law.” In Albion’s Fatal Tree, eds. Hay et. Al. [P].

10. Tu Oct. 7: The Criminal Law in Comparative Class-Analytic Historical Perspective.

(Hacker-Cordón)

Oshinsky, David. 1997 “Worse than Slavery”: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice. Selections.

Western, Bruce and Katherine Beckett. 1999. “How Unregulated Is the U.S. Labor Market? The Penal System as a Labor Market Institution”. American Journal of Sociology.

11. Th Oct. 9: Retributivism and Class Analysis.

(Hacker-Cordón)

Murphy, Jeffrey. 1971. “Marxism and Retribution.”

12. Tu Oct 14. MIDTERM EXAM

II. Criminal Law Processes and the Politics of the Criminal Law

13. Th Oct 16: The Defendant’s Standpoint I.

(Shapiro).

Kafka, Franz. 1992. (1937). The Trial. [B]

14. Tu Oct 21: The Defendant’s Standpoint II.

(Shapiro).

Lewis, Anthony. 1964. Gideon’s Trumpet. Chapters 1-12. [B]

15. Th Oct 23: The Defendant’s Standpoint III.

(Shapiro).

Douglas v. California (1963)
Argensinger v. Hamlin (1972)

Ross v. Moffitt (1974)

Scott v. Illinois (1979)

Strickland v. Washington (1984)

United States v. Cronic (1984)

Ake v. Oklahoma (1985)

16. Tu Oct 28: The Defendant’s Standpoint IV.

(Hacker-Cordón)

Reiman, Jeffrey. The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison: Ideology, Class and Criminal Justice. Selections.

Fritsch, Jane and David Rhode. April 8-10, 2001. “Two Tier Justice.” New York Times.

17. Th Oct 30: Selective Enforcement, Especially Race.

(Hacker-Cordón)

Cole, David. 1999. No Equal Justice. Chapters 1 and 5 [P].

Callagan, Gene and William Anderson. 2001. “The Roots of Racial Profiling.” Reason.

Riley, Jason L. Sep 24, 2001. “ ‘Racial Profiling’ and Terrorism.” The Wall Street Journal.

Knowles, John, Nicola Persico, and Petra Todd. 2001. “Racial Bias in Motor Vehicle Searches.” Journal of Political Economy. You can skip pages 207-214.

D’Alessio, Stewart J. and Lisa Stolzenberg. June 2003. “Race and the Probability of Arrest.” Social Forces.

18. Tu Nov 04: The Politicization of Crime.

(Hacker-Cordón)

Wilson, James Q. and George L. Kelling. March 1982. “Broken Windows.” Atlantic Monthly.

Scheingold, Stuart. 1995.”The Politics of Street Crime and Criminal Justrice.” In Crime, Community and Public Policy, ed. Lawrence Joseph.

Ladipo, David. “The Rise of America’s Prison-Industrial Complex.” Jan/Feb 2001. New Left Review.

19. Th Nov. 6: The Political Economy of The Prison Industry I: Privatization

(Shapiro).

Poole, Patrick S. 1998. “Should Alabama Privitize Prisons?”.

Sarabi, Brigette and Edwin Bender. Nov 2000. “The Prison Payoff”. Read pp 1-25.

Gerth, Jeff and Stephen Labaton. Nov 24, 1995. “Prisons for Profit.” New York Times.

Butterfield, Fox. Nov 7, 1995. “Political Gains by Prison Guards.” New York Times.

Moran, Richard. Aug 23, 1997. “A Third Option.” New York Times.

Elliot, Andrea. Jun 17, 2003. “Stores Fight Shoplifting With Private Security.” New York Times

20. Tu Nov. 11 : The Political Economy of The Prison Industry II: Politics of Prison Life.

(Hacker-Cordón)

Parenti, Christian. 1999. Lockdown America: Police and Prisons in the Age of Crisis. 1999. Selections.

21. Th Nov 13: The Justification of Punishment: Retributivism and Deterrence.

(Hacker-Cordón)

Goldman, Alvin. 1974. “The Paradox of Punishment.”

Wilson, James Q. Sep. 1983. “Thinking About Crime: The Debate About Deterrence.” The Atlantic Monthly

Wilson, James Q. 1994. “Prisons in a Free Society”. The Public Interest.

National Center for Policy Analysis. Aug 17 1998 “Does Punishment Deter?”

III. The Edges of Punishment and the Criminal Law

22. Tu Nov 18: Criminal Justice and the Mechanisms of Racial Domination.

(Hacker-Cordón)

Roberts, Dorothy. 1999. Killing the Black Body. Selections.

Wacquant, Loic. Jan/Feb 2002. “From Slavery to Mass Incarceration: Rethinking the ‘Race’ Question in the United States. ” New Left Review.

23. Th Nov 20: The Insanity Defense

(Shapiro).

The Case of Joy Baker

The Case of Francis Pollard

Regina v. Stephenson

U.S. v. Bright

24. Tu Dec. 2: Juvenile Justice.

(Wizner).

Wizner, Stephen. 1972. “The Child and the state: Adversaries in the Criminal Justice System.” Columbia Human Rights Law Review.

Platt, Anthony M.. 1977. The Child Savers. Selections.

In Re Gault (1967).

25. Th Dec. 4. The Disciplinary Society.

(Shapiro)

Foucault, Michel. 1995 Discipline and Punish. Selections

top