Course Intro: Criminal Law and Procedure. (Posted by Gabe)

Hi Friends--

Next along the lines of course intros for your third quarter is a personal favorite of mine. I'm the Teaching Assistant for the criminal law portion of the JD program, and the criminal procedure is just fun in and of itself. Combining both of these courses is a TON of information, though, so gear yourselves up for some hardcore learning!

If there is one key to criminal law (Lessons 1-7), it is remembering that criminal law is elemental. By "elemental," I mean that every criminal law definition has certain elements, and to commit a crime, the perpetrator must commit every one of those elements. If the perpetrator commits four out of five elements, there is still no crime!

Every crime has at least two of these elements, at its most basic--an actus reus and a mens rea, meaning a guilty act and a guilty mind. Many times the guilty act will have multiple elements to it. Make sure, though, that when it comes to studying the mens rea or guilty mind, that you memorize what type of mental state is required for each crime.

Keep those basics in mind, memorize hard, and always remember exceptions--and you will be well on your way for criminal law. Criminal procedure is a horse of a different color. Based almost entirely on the Constitution, you will be learning precedents from the Supreme Court on the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th amendments primarily.

Reading the actual cases is a good idea, but don't take that overboard. Distill the cases down to the rules that they have become famous for. A good example of this is a case you probably already recognize--Miranda v. Arizona. You've heard the warnings before: "You have the right to remain silent" and so on. You will be learning the broader theories of law that led to this specific decision.

I hope that gets you started on this subject. Happy studying!