LAW 974: Criminal Law and Behaviorial Science Seminar
This seminar will explore the two primary issues that behavioral scientists are asked to address in criminal cases: culpability and dangerousness. The course begins with a review of the criminal law doctrines that define these issues, such as the insanity defense, situational excuse, death penalty jurisprudence, parole decision-making, and sexual predator laws. It then examines behavioral science research about mental illness, “syndromes,” and predictions of violence that might be relevant to those doctrines and the evidentiary rules, including Daubert and Frye, that govern the admissibility of expert testimony aimed at answering the law’s questions about past mental states and future risk. Students should come away from this course with a deeper understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of criminal justice, the scope of evidence law, and the nuances of behavioral science information. Students will write a paper about a topic recommended by the professor that meets the seminar writing requirement. Enrollment Limited [3]
