Core Course Topics
Crime Control in a Constitutional Democracy
Criminal Procedure and the Constitution
Michigan Court System
Searches and Seizures
Stop and Frisk
Arrest
Searches for Evidence
Special Needs Searches
Self Incrimination
Identification Procedures
Exclusionary Rule and Entrapment
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
Describe the balancing of community security and individual autonomy.
Describe the graduated objective basis requirement.
Write appropriate legal briefs.
Utilize legal rules to analyze legal fact patterns and reach legal conclusions based on those rules of law.
Describe the working procedures in the Michigan court system.
Trace the progress of a criminal case as it moves through the court system.
Describe the meaning of Due Process of Law.
Explain how the Incorporation Doctrine relates to Due Process.
Describe the meaning of Equal Protection of Law.
Apply the different tests use to analyze an Equal Protection case.
Describe the concept of Search and Seizure in law enforcement.
Identify the basic constitutional aspects that influence Search and Seizure.
Use the constitutional aspects to analyze search and seizure problems.
Describe the use of Stop and Frisk concepts as they drive from the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution.
Describe the proper scope of a Stop and Frisk.
Analyze situations and decide if a Stop and Frisk is constitutional in those situations.
Identify the basic constitutional restrictions on arrest.
Analyze situations to decide when and if a warrant is needed to make an arrest.
Describe the constitutional restrictions on the use of force when making an arrest
Identify the chief constitutional restraints on searches for evidence.
Identify the exceptions to the warrant requirement.
Analyze fact patterns and be able to determine if a search is reasonable using the constitutional restraints.
Identify the unique rules that apply to special needs searches.
Describe the special needs searches and be able to describe what makes them reasonable under the 4th Amendment.
Identify the constitutional rules that apply to interrogations.
Describe the reasoning behind the rules evolving out of Miranda v. Arizona.
Evaluate factual situations to determine if the rules of Miranda apply.
Identify the different types of identification procedures used by law enforcement.
Identify the constitutional requirements of each procedure for admission into evidence.
Explain the justifications for the Exclusionary Rule and for its application.
Identify the exceptions to the Exclusionary Rule.
Analyze a factual scenario to determine if one of the exceptions applies.
Describe the defense of entrapment.
Apply the two tests used in entrapment cases.