Court Procedures & Constitutional Issues

Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice

CJL 335

BREYER STATE UNIVERSITY

Instructor: John Moran, BS

SYLLABUS

COURSE OVERVIEW: Welcome to "Court Procedures and Constitutional Issues". The second course in the Law/Court systems track. I am pleased to instruct you in this course, which will give you an in depth look at some of the famous court cases that have shaped our legal system.

Our legal system is based on the decisions of past cases. These past cases serve as a guideline for future ones. In Court Procedures and Constitutional Issues, you will learn the procedures of the court system through the cases that helped construct it.

I am looking forward to mentoring you through this course and enjoy seeing you through this step on your way to completing your degree in Criminal Justice.

TIME FRAME: This is a ten (10) semester hour course. The course assignments must be completed within ten weeks. The first day of week one will begin the day that you register for the course or the day that you advise me that you are ready to begin your studies. Please monitor the time frame as extensions are very rare without special circumstances. Upon successful completion of this course you will be awarded ten (10) semester hours of credit. You may accelerate and finish the course prior to the ten week mark, but not in less than four weeks. There is NO mandate to accelerate, it is simply an option for those students who are able to devote extra time to this course.

TEXTBOOKS: There is one required textbook for this course.

Book 1: Criminal Law and its Administration. 6th edition, Fred E. Inbau, James R. Thompson, James B. Zagel, James P. Manak, Westbury, New York The Foundation Press, INC: 1997 ISBN # 1566624029. (you can use a newer version if it's available)

Optional Books:

Book 2: America's Dumbest Criminals. Daniel R. Bulter, Leland Gregory, Alan Ray. Random House Value Publishing; Incorporated May 2000: ISBN # 0517208903.

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EXAMINATIONS: There will be one final exam at the end of the tenth week for this course. It will be worth 30% of your total grade for this course. It will cover the case briefs and the procedures that you have learned from them.

ASSIGNMENTS: During this course, I will require you to complete eight case briefs per week. I do not require you to turn these in to me, just have them done. I will at the end of each week randomly ask for one of those case briefs. More information on this will be in the assignments section in your classroom.

During the last week of class, I want you to make a portfolio of all the case briefs that you have done over the ten week period. More information on this will be in the assignments section in your classroom.

GRADING: The grading scale for the course is as follows:

90%-100% = A
80%-89%   = B
70%-79%   = C
Below-70% = Fail

POINT DISTRIBUTION: There is 100 possible points.

Case Briefs - 70 points
Final Exam - 30 points

COMMUNICATION: You are encouraged to communicate with me via e-mail, group chat in BSU's virtual chat room, or even by telephone if necessary. Depending on how many students are enrolled in this course, we may have one or several group chats scheduled, of which you will be notified. If your e-mail address changes at any time during this course, please notify me right away.

ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR: I, John Moran, graduated from Youngstown State University with a Bachelors of Science degree in Criminal Justice. During my studies there I took many psychology and computer science courses. I also am a graduate of the Youngstown State Police Academy, where I graduated with the third highest grade of a class of 50 cadets. I plan to, in the future, earn my Masters in Policing Science. In my spare time I enjoy weight lifting, jogging, music, and pistol shooting.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

1). Have a better understanding of some of the most influential court case of this century.
2). Write good case briefs

INFORMATION: If you have any questions regarding this program, you may address them to adm@breyerstate.com. An administrative faculty member will respond to all questions.