WELCOME TO CRJ 200: CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

Summer 2022

Professor Satenik Margaryan

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Constitutional law governs virtually every aspect of the criminal justice system. It determines when an individual can legally be stopped, frisked or arrested. It determines when property can lawfully be entered, searched and seized. It determines the manner and means by which law enforcement obtains confessions and it controls the admissibility of those confessions. Similarly, it determines when relevant evidence is excluded from trial because of the manner in which it was obtained. It also controls when an individual is entitled to court-appointed counsel, when an accused is entitled to release on bail and, as to those individuals convicted of crimes, it protects them from cruel and unusual punishment. This course covers the application of Constitutional law to each phase of the criminal justice system, ranging from first contact with law enforcement all the way through indictment, trial, sentencing and post-conviction proceedings. Our focus will be primarily on the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. By the completion of the course, you should have a clear understanding of the application of the Constitution, in general, and the Bill of Rights, in particular, to the criminal justice system.