Federal Criminal Law

Course Information

Registration Information

Meeting Times

Day Time Location
MON, WED 2:15 - 3:30 pm TNH 3.127

Evaluation Method

Type Date Time Location
Floating take-home exam (administered by Faculty Coordinator)
Other

Description

This is a one-semester three-unit course about substantive federal criminal law. This course will detail the prosecution and defense of criminal offenses in federal court, focusing on the more frequently employed and complex areas, and on current hot topics. Class time will be devoted to mail, wire, bank, and health care fraud, public corruption, money laundering, administration of justice offenses, the Controlled Substances Act, immigration offenses, and terrorism and weapons offenses. Students will be alerted to the manner in which federal sanctions can be employed against lawyers, banks, and corporations, and the bases of federal criminal jurisdiction. If time permits, we will review the federal plea bargaining and sentencing systems. Your grade will be based primarily upon a floating open-book essay exam, and in small part upon class participation.  If we have no more than 14 students, the grade in this class will not be on a curve, and you will be required to complete at least one in-class group project. Second-year students interested in the United States Attorney’s Office or Federal Public Defender's Service internships for their third year should consider taking this class first. This class does not significantly overlap with my Advanced Federal Criminal Prosecution & Defense seminar, Judge Pitman's Fed. Crim. Law seminar, or Mr. DeGuerin's Adv. Fed. Defense seminar.

Textbooks ( * denotes required )

Federal Criminal Law and Its Enforcement *
Abrams, Norman, Beale, Sara Sun, Klein, Susan Riva, Beale, Sara, and Klein, Susan
West Academic , edition: 7
ISBN: 978-1-68467-513-5

Instructors

Log In to View Course Evaluations