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This seminar is an opportunity to study mass incarceration and criminal law reform in real time while getting hands-on experience in active litigation on behalf of Three Strikes Project clients serving life sentences for nonviolent crimes. In this course, students read and analyze a variety of cases and articles, examining the evolution of incarceration and sentencing policies. Students also assist with live post-conviction litigation on behalf of clients in trial and appellate courts across the country. The class focuses largely on the Three Strikes law as a case study in the history, politics, constitutional doctrine, and reform of criminal law policy. Thanks to assistance from students, over 250 of our clients have been freed from life sentences, and students been intimately involved in criminal policy reform movement through Project partnerships with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and the Obama White House. Seminar students quickly become involved in all aspects of the Project's work, including assistance with cases in different stages of ongoing litigation. Students will visit a Project client in prison, conduct factual investigations, and draft court pleadings. The Project is an active, fast-paced program that depends on the hard work and contributions of law students enrolled in this seminar. This seminar offers the opportunity to both study the theory behind the law and hone practical litigation and advocacy skills. The seminar will meet for 3 hours per week, including 1-hour small group meetings with Project director Michael Romano. In addition, students will participate in field trips to various prisons in California. Elements used in grading: Class Participation, Attendance, Written Assignments. CONSENT APPLICATION: To apply for this course, students must complete and submit a Consent Application Form available on the SLS Registrar website https://registrar.law.stanford.edu/. Click SUNetID Login in the top right corner of the page and then click the "Consent Courses" tab. See Consent Application Form for instructions and submission deadline. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.

This course explores the law of economic and political crimes associated with the rubric "white collar crime." The class is divided thematically between mens rea issues and substantive issues. Among the substantive areas which are covered are: obstruction of justice, perjury, bribery and gratuities, mail and wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering. We will study specific federal statutes in considerable detail, while also speculating about the jurisprudence underlying these crimes, and related issues of prosecutorial discretion and attorney ethics. Special instructions: Students may write a paper in lieu of the final exam for Research credit. Also, classroom participation may be taken into account to some very small degree. After the term begins, students accepted into the course can transfer from section (01) into section (02) which meets the R requirement, with consent of the instructor. Elements used in grading: Class participation and final exam or paper.

(Formerly Law 621) This introductory course will familiarize students with the history, structure, and performance of America's sentencing and corrections system for adult offenders. Sentencing is the process by which criminal sanctions are imposed in individual cases following criminal convictions. Corrections deals with the implementation and evaluation of criminal sentences after they are handed down. In fact, the two subject areas are inseparable. The course will examine sentencing and corrections from global and historical views, from theoretical and policy perspectives, and with close attention to many problem-specific areas. We will explore: (1) sentencing theories and their application; (2) the nature, scope and function of jails, prisons, probation and parole; (3) the impact of incarceration on crime, communities, and racial justice; (4) the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs; (5) the collateral consequences of a criminal conviction; (6) special prison populations (e.g., mentally ill) and policies (e.g., solitary confinement); (7) prison litigation and conditions of confinement; and (8) parole, risk prediction, and prisoner reentry. These topics will be considered as they play out in current political and policy debates. Guest lectures may include presentations by legal professionals, victims, offenders, and correctional leaders. This course is open to 1Ls, 2Ls, and 3Ls in the Law School. Special Instructions: Grades will be based on class participation (which will include a class presentation), and three reflection papers of 5 to 7 pages each. Due dates will be listed in the class syllabus. Elements used in grading: Final grades will be based on the three reflection papers (25% each) and class participation (25%).

The most recent financial crisis that began in 2008 has resulted in a call, mostly ignored, for significant jail time for those allegedly responsible, without any explanation of the crimes that may have been committed. The aggressive use of the criminal laws to respond to perceived financial abuse probably had its birth in the prosecution of Michael Milken. Although folks will differ about the prosecution, there is no realistic dispute about the influence Mr MILKEN has had in creating the markets which made possible for new ideas and ventures to have access to the capital needed to build and thrive. . MILKEN effectively developed the so called "junk bonds" market which was the engine that allowed for this theoretically high risk capital to be effectively deployed. As the high yield market grew, Michael Milken and the firm he worked for, Drexel Burnham became the largest and most effective competitor in the market place. This led to a call for an investigation and coincided with a significant insider trading investigation centered on Ivan Boesky (fictionalized in the first Wall Street movie). The US Attorney in NY at the time was Rudolph Giulliani (later Mayor of NY and, more recently, know for his representation of President Trump in various matters including the Ukrainian matter) who led the investigation. Ultimately Mr MILKEN was indicted and pled guilty and was imprisoned. This seminar will involve an in depth study of the circumstances surrounding the high yield securities market and the investigation, indictment and guilty pleas and the subsequent impact of the case. The seminar will examine the tools available to prosecutors, including the use of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) in white collar cases, in pursuing this and other cases, the affect of the media in high profile cases and other systemic elements that come into play. The seminar will feature presentations of many colorful key players including those involved in the prosecution and defense and those with knowledge of the high yield markets. The seminar will be taught jointly by Professor Mills (who was intimately involved with Mr MILKEN and defended some of the other cases which arose at the time) and Richard Sandler who served as Michael Milken's personal counsel throughout the time and has continued to work with Michael Milken to the present time. Elements used in grading: Class presentation and final paper.

The intensity of the current debates over criminal law and criminal justice policy is at an unusually high level, with strong and conflicting positions being staked out in the areas of race and crime, policing, incarceration and sentencing, drug policy, and guns. We will be discussing these topics with a mixture of doctrinal analysis of key issues, review of secondary commentaries on key aspects of criminal justice policy, and analysis of empirical papers that illuminate important elements relevant to these legal and policy debates. Elements used in grading: Grading will be based on attendance, class participation, one-to-two-page response papers to readings, and three six-page papers on topics distilled from each of the three three-week blocks in the course.

This seminar will explore how the law thinks about violence. Across various legal domains---e.g., criminal law, criminal procedure, juvenile justice, immigration, domestic violence, family law, civil rights, free speech, firearms regulation---we will study when and to what extent the law marks off violence as a category of distinct concern, how violence is defined, and what ideas the law reflects about how violence operates. Students may elect to write a substantial research paper or a series of short response papers. After the term begins, students accepted into the course can transfer from section (01) into section (02), which meets the R requirement, with consent of the instructor. Elements used in grading: Attendance, Class Participation, Response Papers or Final Paper.

International criminal law is the regime that establishes individual criminal responsibility directly under international law. In so doing, it underpins both the exercise of universal jurisdiction by domestic courts and the criminal jurisdiction of international courts (most prominently, but not exclusively, the International Criminal Court). At a minimum, it covers aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Other crimes, such as ecocide, are also sometimes included. This course (i) asks foundational questions about the nature of international criminal law, (ii) considers domestic and international jurisdictional authority on these issues, (iii) wrestles with debates about the scope and limits of the substantive crimes themselves, (iv) explores and evaluates the scope of individual responsibility for these crimes, and (v) considers legal and political obstacles to the realization of international criminal justice. In addition to developing students' understanding of the specific regime of international criminal law, this course will offer an opportunity to reflect critically on that regime, while advancing skills in legal interpretation, analysis, and argument, particularly in relation to international law. Students have the option to write a research paper in lieu of the final exam with consent of instructor. After the term begins, students enrolled in the course can transfer from section 01 (exam) into section 02 (research paper), which meets the R requirement, with consent of the instructor. Elements used in grading: Class participation; final exam or final research paper.

Over the course of the past two decades there has been increasing recognition that, despite its commitment to the concept of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, our criminal justice system yields a steady stream of wrongful convictions. This Seminar will focus on some causes, preventions and potential remedies for this phenomenon. Subjects to be addressed include eyewitness identification, interrogations and confessions, jailhouse informant testimony, forensic evidence, the psychology of tunnel vision and confirmation bias, the role of appellate review and habeas corpus, the role of clemency, the impact of the problem on the death penalty, and issues around compensation of those who have been wrongly convicted. As we study these subjects, we will also reflect on whether taking some reforms too far will impair on the efficacy of legitimate law enforcement. The class will meet for two hours each week. In addition, there will be three additional evening or weekend sessions (to be scheduled at the convenience of the participants). During each of these additional sessions, students will watch a film involving a wrongful conviction and will engage in conversation about the particular case involved. Each student will be responsible for preparing a paper on an appropriate topic to be chosen in consultation with the instructor. Consent Instructions: After the term begins, students accepted into the course can transfer from section (01) into section (02), which meets the R requirement, with consent of the instructor. Elements used in grading: Class participation; Paper.

This course examines the theoretical foundations of criminal procedure---political, historical, and, above all, philosophical. What are the ideas at work in the American system of criminal procedure? How, historically, did the system develop, and why does it presently function as it does? Is the system broken and, if so, what principles should orient us in fixing it? This theoretical inquiry has a practical point. Procedure plays a major role in the present crisis of American criminal justice. By examining criminal procedure's theoretical foundations, this course aims to develop competing "big picture," synthetic perspectives on the criminal justice crisis as a whole. Thus, for students interested in criminal justice reform, this course will equip you to take a philosophically richer view of the underlying policy issues. For students thinking about a career in criminal law, this course will equip you to engage in large-scale thinking about how criminal procedure should change, rather than just working within the doctrinal and institutional structures that exist at present. For students interested in legal academia, this course will develop your ability to read sophisticated theoretical material, to write in the same vein, and to relate theoretical ideas to policy prescriptions. Elements used in grading: Class participation and, based on individual student preference, either a final reflection paper or a final research paper. After the term begins, students accepted into the course can transfer from section (01) into section (02), which meets the R requirement, with consent of the instructor. Students taking the course for R credit can take the course for either 2 or 3 units, depending on paper length. Cross-listed with Philosophy ( PHIL 375K).