ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

Spring 2004

Criminal Justice and Legal Studies

Course: CCJ 5456

Monday, 6 - 8:45PM

MCC 114

Professor: Stephanie M. Myers, Ph.D.

Telephone: 407.882.0020

Office: 356, Health and Public Affairs I

Email: smyers@mail.ucf.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The principle purpose of this course is to introduce students to the study of the criminal justice process. We will be especially concerned with theories of criminal justice and the process of theorizing about criminal justice. As such, we shall discuss why criminal justice thinking has rarely been considered theoretical in nature and what one might do to alter these perceptions in the future. We will examine theories that apply to the criminal justice system generally as well as theories that apply to individual criminal justice institutions or agencies, such as police, courts, and corrections. We will also be concerned with how individuals working within criminal justice institutions make decisions. A secondary goal of the course will be to introduce students to important questions about criminal justice administration and we will evaluate how the field has addressed these questions thus far. We will be particularly concerned with how empirical evidence has been, and might be, gathered on these questions.

REQUIRED READINGS

1. Black, Donald (1976) The Behavior of Law. Academic Press

2. Lipsky, Michael (1980). Street Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services. New York: Russel Sage Foundation.

3. Silverman, Eli (1999). NYPD Battles Crime: Innovative Strategies in Policing. Boston: Northeastern University Press.

4. Course Pack online through my website: http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~smyers/)

Students are responsible for obtaining and reading all of the course materials.

GRADING

Students will be expected to (1) come to class prepared to participate in class discussions, (2) write a short paper on a group of assigned readings and present this critique and summary to the class, (3) take a comprehensive final examination. Each of these three expectations will weigh equally into your final grade (they are each worth a third).

Final letter grades for the course will be distributed as follows:

A 93 -100 C 73 - 76

A- 90 - 92 C- 70 - 72

B+ 87 - 89 D+ 67 - 69

B 83 - 86 D 63 - 66

B- 80 - 82 D- 60 - 62

C+ 77 - 79 F 0 - 59

MISSED EXAMINATIONS/LATE PAPERS

If you know you are going to miss an exam, I must be notified 2 weeks in advance so that we can schedule a make-up date. The make-up exam will be taken prior to the in-class exam and will be in a format of the instructor’s choice. You are only allowed to miss an exam for a legitimate reason: a death in your immediate family, a serious illness that is documented by a physician. Documentation will be required if you plan to miss an exam. If you find out that you cannot make an exam and the 2 week window has passed, I still MUST be notified BEFORE the exam takes place. No exceptions. If you simply do not show up, you will get a zero for that exam. Again, absolutely no exceptions – there is no reason for you to not call or email me.

ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT:CHEATING/PLAGIARISM/CLASS DISRUPTION

Students are required to be familiar with the Golden Rule Student Handbook. Pages 7-18 summarize student ‘Rules of Conduct’. No form of academic dishonesty or cheating will be allowed. If you plagiarize (you use another’s work without indication of source and represent it as your own thoughts) or cheat on an exam you risk receiving a failing grade for this course and possibly being expelled from the University (see the rule book). Do not plagiarize. If you have questions about when and how to cite, please ask or go the library for assistance. In addition, for your benefit, the instructor may ask a student to leave the class if they are being disruptive - and the instructor reserves the right to permanently have the student dropped from the class.

CHANGES TO THE COURSE OUTLINE

The course outline (including exam dates) and grading procedures listed in this syllabus are subject to change by the instructor. If changes are made, an announcement will be made in class. Announcements made in class are considered proper notice of change. If a class is missed, it is the student’s responsibility to find out about any possible changes to the course outline or grading procedures.

COURSE OUTLINE

January 5 Introduction

Theory and the Study of the Criminal Justice Process

January 12

Thomas J. Bernard and Richard Ritti (1990). “The Role of Theory in Scientific Research,” in K. Kempf (ed.) Measurement Issues in Criminology (New York: Springer-Verlag).

Thomas Bernard and Robin Shepard Engel (2001). “Criminal Justice Theory,” Justice Quarterly. Vol. 1: 1 (1-30).

January 19 No Class UCF Holiday, MLK day

The Administration of Justice: Socio-Legal Theory (sociological theories)

January 26 Papers and Presentations Due

Donald Black, The Behavior of Law, ALL.

February 2 Papers and Presentations Due

Michael Gottfredson and Michael Hindelang (1979). “A study of the Behavior of Law,” and “Theory and Research in the Sociology of Law” American Sociology Review 44 3-18 and 27-37.

Donald Black (1979) “Common Sense in the Sociology of Law,” American Sociological Review 44: 18-27.

John Braithwaite and David Biles (1980). Emperical Verification and Black’s The Behavior of Law,” American Sociological Review 45: 334-338.

Michael Gottfredson and Michael Hindelang (1980). “Trite but True,” and “Theory and Research in the Sociology of Law” American Sociology Review 45: 338-340.

Martha Myers (1980). “Predicting the Behavior of Law: A Test of Two Models,” Law and Society Review. Vol 14: 835-857.

February 9 Papers and Presentations Due

Robert E. Worden and Stephanie M. Myers (1999). “Policing Juveniles,” Report Submitted to the National Academy of Science: Panel on Juvenile Crime and Juvenile Justice.

Martha Myers and Suzette Talarico (1986). “The Social Contexts of Racial Discrimination in Sentencing,” Social Problems 33: 236.

Allan Lizotte (1978). “Extra-legal factors in Chicago’s Criminal Courts: Testing the Conflict Model of Criminal Justice,” Social Problems. Vol. 25:564.

The Administration of Justice: Organizational Theory

February 16 Papers and Presentations Due

Michael Lipsky, Street Level Bureaucracy, ALL

February 23 Papers and Presentations Due

John Van Maanen (1974). “Working the Street,” Chapter 4 in Herbert Jacob (ed), The Potential for Reform of Criminal Justice (Beverly Hills: Sage).

Milton Huemann (1977). “Adapting to Plea Bargaining: Prosecutors,” chapter 5 in Plea Bargaining. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

John Rosecrance (1988). “Maintaining the Myth of Individualized Justice: Probation Presentence Reports,” Justice Quarterly. Vol. 5:235-56.

March 1

Due Process / Crime Control: TBA

The Administration of Justice: Jury Decision Making

March 15

Goodpastor (1987). “On the Theory of the American Adversary Criminal Trial,” Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 78 (1): 118.

Criminal Justice Policy Making and Reform

March 22 Papers and Presentations Due

Sherman and Berk (1984). “The Specific Deterrent Effects of Arrest for Domestic Assault,” American Sociological Review, Vol. 28, no.2.

Sherman, Lawrence W., and Ellen G. Cohn. "The Impact of Research on Legal Policy: The Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment," Law & Society Review. Vol. 23 (1989): 117-144.**

Lempert, Richard O. (1989). Humility is a virtue: On the publicization of policy-relevant research. Law and Society Review. Vol. 23: 145-161.

March 29 Papers and Presentations Due

Thomas Church and Milton Huemann (1989). “The Underexamined Assumptions of the Invisible Hand: Monetary Incentives as Policy Instruments,” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. Vol. 8, (4): 641-657.

Dennis Palumbo, Mary Clifford, anfd Zoann Snyder-Joy (1992). “From Net Widening to Intermediate Sanctions: The Transformation of Alternatives to Incarceration From Benevolence to Malevolence,” in Byrne, Lurigio and Petersilia (eds.) Smart Sentencing.

John P. Crank (1994). “Watchman and Community: Myth and Institutionalization in Policing,” Law and Society Review 28: 325-51.

April 5 Papers and Presentations Due

Silverman, NYPD Battles Crime, ALL

April 12 Policy Analysis / Final Exam handed out