SECTION 1 - COLQUITT
FALL, 2002
ASSIGNMENTS: This
syllabus informs you of the topics we will cover during the semester as well as provides
you with your reading assignments. You should be able to access the syllabus either by
personal computer or through the Law Library’s computer lab.
Normally, all assignments for this course will be contained in the course syllabus. If any new cases or materials are added, this information will be provided during class and by postings on the website.
All assignments in this handout and in the syllabus refer either to our casebook or to the required materials contained on-line at the course website. For example, T 1-20 is a reference to pages 1 through 20 of the required casebook, BONNIE, COUGHLIN, JEFFRIES & LOW, CRIMINAL LAW (1997). Similarly, T A-11 refers to page 11 of Appendix A of the casebook.
As part of your participation in this course, you should read every assignment before class. Simply look under any “Session” and you will see listed the reading assignment(s) for that session of class. We probably will proceed through the course in the order established by the syllabus. Any changes will be posted on the website and announced in class.
BACKGROUND READING:
Background reading assignments usually will not be discussed in class. They are, however,
important to your understanding of the material that will be discussed. If time permits,
we may cover any difficult subjects contained in the background materials.
OBJECTIVES: At the
beginning of each major topic area, this syllabus states certain objectives. The
objectives are for illustration only. Certainly, they are not all-inclusive. You should
add appropriate objectives as you study the materials for this course.
LINKS: Underlined
listings in blue font are "links." Simply "click" on any link with
your left mouse button and the listed material will appear on your computer screen. You
then have three options: Read the material on-line, save it to disk, or print it.
OBJECTIVES: 1) To introduce and establish some fundamentals about criminal case analysis; 2) To begin to classify and analyze the elements of a crime generally; 3) To define and study the actus reus element of crimes; 4) To initiate the study of the concept of blameworthiness; 5) To identify and probe the concept of duty; 6) To determine who defines crime.
"THOUGHT STIMULATORS":
"There is no law against a man's intending to commit a murder the day after to-morrow [sic]. The law only deals with conduct." OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, THE COMMON LAW (1881).
"Everyone seems to agree that it would be a perversion of the institution of punishment to convict for thoughts alone." George P. Fletcher, On the Moral Irrelevance of Bodily Movements, 142 U. PA. L. REV. 1443, 1452 (1994).
"[T]he authority of making penal laws can only reside with the legislator, who represents the whole society united by the social compact." CESARE BECCARIA, AN ESSAY ON CRIME AND PUNISHMENTS (1819).
"In times when legislation was scanty, the powers referred to were necessary. That the law in its earlier stages should be developed by judicial decisions from a few vague generalities was natural and inevitable. But a new state of things has come into existence. On the one hand, the courts have done their work; they have developed the law. On the other hand, parliament is regular in its sittings and active in its labours; and if the protection of society requires the enactment of additional penal laws, parliament will soon supply them." III JAMES FITZJAMES STEPHEN, A HISTORY OF THE CRIMINAL LAW OF ENGLAND 360 (1883).
SESSION 3 - The Criminal Act - Previously Defined Conduct
T 31-43
MODEL PENAL CODE § 1.05 - T A-13This reading assignment includes the following principal case:
Rex v. Manley - T 31-33
OPTIONAL READING:
SESSION 4 - The Criminal Act - Vagueness
T 43-57
This reading assignment includes the following principal case:
Kolender v. Lawson - T 43-50
SESSION 5 - The Criminal Act - Vagueness (cont'd)
T 57-64
MODEL PENAL CODE § 1.02(1)(d) - T A-11OPTIONAL READING:
SESSION 6 - The Criminal Act - Conduct
T 64-84
This reading assignment includes the following principal cases:
Keeler v. Superior Court - T 64-73
People v. Sobiek - T 74-77
SESSION 7 - The Criminal Act - Omissions
T 85-98
MODEL PENAL CODE § 2.01(3) - T A-19This reading assignment includes the following principal case:
Commonwealth v. Konz - T 85-91
SESSION 8 - The Criminal Act - Omissions (cont'd)
T 98-105
This reading assignment includes the following principal case:
Barber v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County - T 98-101
SESSION 9 - The Criminal Act - Voluntary Act
T 106-113
MODEL PENAL CODE § 2.01 - T A-19This reading assignment includes the following principal case:
Martin v. State - T 106
END OF PART THREE
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