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California State University, Dominguez Hills
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Created: July 27, 2003
Latest Update: November 8, 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 11: Week of November 11, 2007

Topic: The Color of Death

Preparatory Readings:

• Gordon Fellman. Rambo and the Dalai Lama. -- entire book.
• Samuel Walker and others. The Color of Justice. Chapter 8.
• Richard Delgado & Jean Stefancic. The Derrick Bell Reader . Chapters 12.
• Documentary: "Witness to Execution " (to be shown in class)
  
  
  

Lecture related links:




Death Penalty Index

• Race, Ethnicity, and the Criminal Justice System
• Index on Structural Violence
• Metaphor and Theory links to "The Blind Men and the Elephant." Relates to theoretical concepts discussed throughout the course.
• Critical Race Theory Resource Page
  
• Other Gordon Fellman related materials on the Dear Habermas site.
  
• Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. An excellent resource for juvenile justice related issues.
  
• 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:



• Roper v. Simmons (2005)
• Atkins v. Virginia (2002)
• Furman v. Georgia (1972)
• Eighth Amendment
• Gregg v. Georgia (1976)
• McClesky v. Kemp (1987)
• David C. Baldus
• wrongful convictions
• deterrence
• retribution



Discussion Questions:





Note: In order to answer these discussion questions, you will need to view "Witness to Execution" and do the assigned readings for this week.

1. What can minorities do when it is the public itself that votes to eliminate affirmative action or immigrant rights? [from D&S, p. 355]
2. Consider the five remedies for racial discrimination in capital sentencing (See Box 8.6). Which do you believe is the appropriate remedy? Why? What would Fellman choose and how would his selection compare to Bell's? Why. [from Walker, p. 333]
3. What would Fellman's reaction be to the documentary, "Witness to Execution"? Why. What would be Bell's reaction? Why.



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.



• Make A Box a Week focusing on the week's topic or issues.

• Make a Globe (Origami Balloon). Try it!
• Research your state's recent developments relating to the death penalty; for example, in the State of Wisconsin, the recent death penalty referendum.
• Amnesty International reports that 123 prisoners have been released in the U.S. since 1973 after evidence emerged of their innocence of the crimes for which they were sentenced to death. Research these cases and present their findings to the class. [from Walker's teachers guide]
• Examine the most recent research on race and the death penalty.
  
• Explore death penalty related "mistakes."
  
• Research/read the Baldus study.



Recommended Readings:

• David C. Baldus, et al. Equal Justice and the Death Penalty: A Legal and Empirical Analysis.
• Austin Sarat. When the State Kills.
• Eric W. Rise. The Martinsville Seven: Race, Rape, and Capital Punishment.
• William Wilbanks. The Myth of a Racist Criminal Justice System.
• Samuel Gross & Robert Mauro. Death and Discrimination: Racial Disparities in Capital Sentencing.
• Raymond Pasternoster. Capital Punishment in America.
  
  

• Marc Mauer. Race to Incarcerate.
• Marc Mauer. Young Black Men and the Criminal Justice System: A Growing National Problem.
• Michael Tonry. Malign Neglect: Race, Crime, and Punishment in America.
• Alfred Blumstein and others. Research on Sentencing: The Search for Reform.
• Jerome Miller. Search and Destroy: African-American Males in the Criminal Justice System.
• Joan Petersilia. Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System.
• Kenneth Culp Davis. Discretionary Justice.
  
  

  --- Milton Gordon. Assimilation in American Life.
  --- Robert Blauner. Still the Big News: Racial Oppression in America.
  --- William Julius Wilson. The Declining Significance of Race.
  --- William Julius Wilson. The Truly Disadvantaged.
  
  

• 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"

takata@uwp.edu