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California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Soka University Japan - Transcend Art and Peace
Created: July 27, 2003
Latest Update: October 9, 2007
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

CRMJ/SOCA 365 Race, Crime, Law

You will be held accountable for purposes of grading for the readings and exercises listed here. There will be no "testing." That means that you will not have to live in anxious anticipation of what we will ask and how much you will have to know. Instead, we will provide weekly discussion questions, lectures, essays, and concepts we feel that you should know as a result of having taken this course. You will assure us of that learning and receive your grade for the questions and concepts about which you choose to write and talk with us. In addition you will find detailed explanations and examples on our grading policies in the first week's reading.

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Week 6: Week of October 7, 2007

• October 15 through October 22nd - First Meetings. If you do not have your First Meeting scheduled, see me ASAP!!
• Wednesday, October 24th - Midterm Visual Projects due at the beginning of class
• Friday, October 26th - Last Day to Drop a Semester-long Course
  
  

  Topic: Justice on the Streets?

  Preparatory Readings:

  • Gordon Fellman. Rambo and the Dalai Lama. -- entire book.
  • Samuel Walker and others. The Color of Justice. Chapter 4.
  • Richard Delgado & Jean Stefancic. The Derrick Bell Reader . Chapter 6.
  • Documentary: "MTV on Racial Profiling" and "Law Enforcement in Indian Nations" (to be shown in class)
    
    
    

  Lecture related links:

  
  
  • Other Gordon Fellman related materials on the Dear Habermas site.
    
  • National Criminal Justice Resource Service. Administered by the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
    
    
  • "Who's Habermas? Why Habermas?"
  • W.I. Thomas "Definition of the Situation
    
    
  • Those Infamous Grades and Letters of Recommendation
  • "The Case Against Gold Stars" by Alfie Kohn.
  
  
  

  Concepts to be covered:

  
  
  • DWB
  • racial profiling
  • deadly force
  • affirmative action
  • War on Drugs
  • gringo justice
  • police brutality
  • zero-tolerance
  
  

  Discussion Questions:

  
  
  

  Note: In order to answer these discussion questions, you will need to view "MTV on Racial Profiling" and "Law Enforcement in Indian Nations" and do the assigned readings for this week.

  1. What is meant by a contextual approach to examining policing, race and ethnicity? [Walker, p. 154] What would Bell and Fellman say about this topic? Why.
  2. How is policing in Native American communities different than policing in the rest of the United States? Why. [Walker, p. 154]
  3. When does the police use of deadly force become "excessive" or "unjustified"? Give a definition of excessive force. [Walker, p. 154] How would Fellman and Bell react to this issue? Why.
  4. Define the concept of affirmative action . Do you support or oppose affirmative action in the employment of police officers? Do you think affirmative action is more important in policing than in other areas of life? [Walker, p. 154] Explain. What would Bell and Fellman's assessment be on this issue? Why.
  5. In Chapter 6 of The Derrick Bell Reader , the focus is on the politics in the academy. Are there "comparable pressures that plague" minority law enforcement officers? If so, what are some similarities and differences experienced by minorities in these two professional career fields?
  
  

  Suggested Creative Measures/Visual Projects:

  
  

  Note: Start thinking about ideas for your creative measures. Must relate to "race, crime, law." Must be approved before starting your creative measure. Cannot be something that you are doing or have done for another course. Research cannot be 100% online (i.e., google, askjeeves). Must conduct library research using scholarly works, (not the popular press -- Time Magazine, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated). You are expected to turn in a bibliography with each visual project. No term papers! Allow time to dialogue and present your creative measure in class. Email me your ideas ASAP.
  
  

  • Examine the policies and practices of racial profiling from a variety of perspectives: 1) the mass media. 2) law enforcement, 3) the local community.
  • Watch the movie, "Crash." Relate your observations to the readings in this course. Find scholarly reviews and critiques of this movie.
  • Explore police use of deadly force as it relates to racial and ethnic groups.
  • Find out about police brutality and racial/ethnic minorities.
  • Describe about police-community relations in your neighborhood.
  • Examine affirmative action and law enforcement. How many minority law enforcement officers are there in your city? Do they mirror the city's population? [from the Instructor's Resource Manual]
  • Access the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board website. Review various complaint cases. [from the Instructor's Resource Manual]
    
    
  • Research the Dalai Lama -- his past and present.
  • Research "forgiveness". Begin with these books: Martha Minow, Between Vengeance and Forgiveness. Desmond Tutu, No Future Without Forgiveness.
  
  

  Recommended Readings:

  
  
  • Nicholas Alex. Black in Blue.
  • Stephen Leinen. Black Police, White Society.
  • Kenneth Bolton, Jr. and Joe Feagin. Black in Blue: African-American Police Officers and Racism.
  • Katheryn Russell-Brown. The Color of Crime: Racial Hoaxes, White Fear, Black Protectionism, Police Harassment, and Other Macroaggressions.
  • David Cole. No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Criminal Justice System.
  • Kenneth Meeks. Driving While Black.
  • Jarret S. Lovell. Good Cop/Bad Cop.
    
    
  • Jurgen Habermas. Between Facts and Norms.
    
  • Martha Minow. Making All the Difference: Exclusion, Inclusion and American Law. Check out this link Martha Minow on the Dear Habermas site.
    
    
  • Desmond Tutu. No Future Without Forgiveness.
    
    

Course Syllabus for CRMJ/SOCA 365 "Race, Crime, Law"