The First Day of Criminal Law: Forgetting Everything You Thought You Already Knew

Law school presents many challenges, not the least of which is the large body of legal doctrines that students must digest in the first year of law school. Whether from the media or the seemingly endless rotation of Law and Order episodes, many students enter law school with a great deal of knowledge about important concepts that dominate Criminal Law, including murder, manslaughter, conspiracy, self-defense, or insanity. This familiarity with criminal law presents a dual challenge for students and professors alike. First, as future lawyers, they must force themselves to think critically about these familiar topics, and despite their basic knowledge of the criminal justice system, students quickly learn that there is much more to criminal law than meets the eye. Second, part of this critical analysis requires students to shed any preconceived notions about the criminal justice system they may have acquired. For my students, this means appreciating that criminality exists in all sectors of society and is not reserved for any particular race, gender, or socioeconomic class. Armed with knowledge of criminal law and its principles, my hope is that they will develop their own ideas about making our great justice system better. In order to introduce these concepts, I begin the first day of Criminal with an interactive exercise to debate the merits of criminal prosecution and punishment involving a scenario plucked from the headlines of a modem news story. For the first of many times during the semester, I divide the class into two groups: prosecutors and defense attorneys. The exercise encourages students to think about many questions we will consider during the course of the semester. How do we define "crime" or "punishment"? What are the goals of punishment, and how much punishment is enough to accomplish these goals? Why punish someone who encouraged or assisted a criminal actor but did not actively participate in the crime? Are there any circumstances about the individual or the situation that might warrant exoneration or leniency? Throughout the hour, we slowly peel back the intricate layers of the scenario to reveal some of the complexities and confounding principles of criminal law.