Spring 2024
Professor(s):
Scott Martin (ADJUNCT)
Credits: 2
Course Areas: Criminal Law
Time: 5:30p-7:30p M Location: 312
Course Outline: The purpose of this course is to examine the law and policy of criminal sentencing. The course will explore why society punishes; who holds the power to set sentences (the social institutions); what elements factor into sentencing decisions (offense and offender characteristics); and how sentencing and punishment decisions are made (procedure and proof). The course will also explore the typical outcomes of the sentence decision, including the most expensive and visible outcome: imprisonment. Finally, the course will consider sentencing-review doctrines, including new laws and advocacy surrounding “second look” sentencing mechanisms, and the role of executive clemency.
Course Syllabus: Syllabus
Course Notes: (Face-to-Face) The UH registration system instruction mode for this course is listed in parenthesis. For this instruction mode, instructors and students are expected to normally be physically present in the classroom. If the course has a final examination, it will be in a classroom requiring your physical presence. Other assessment, such as a mid-term exam, may also be in a classroom. Whether this instructor will offer “remote presence” (starting a zoom meeting from the podium computer to enable student remote access on an occasional basis) for part or all of the semester is not known, but students should not rely on an expectation that remote presence will be available.
Prerequisites:
First Day Assignments:
Final Exam Schedule: 5/6/2024 6-8 312
This course will have:
Exam:
Paper:
Satisfies Senior Upper Level Writing Requirement: No
Experiential Course Type: No
Bar Course: No
DistanceEd ABA: No
Pass-Fail Student Election: Available
Course Materials
Book(s) Required
Course Materials: Demleitner, Berman, Miller & Wright, Sentencing Law and Policy: Cases, Statutes, and Guidelines, Fifth Edition (2022)
