Selected Problems in Criminal Law

LAW 522-01	Selected Problems in Criminal Law	credits
The Criminal Law draws a bright line distinction between the "Bad" and the "Mad." For example, legally insane defendants are excused from criminal responsibility, while sociopaths -- defendants who lack a conscience and/or possess no capacity for empathy or remorse -- may not claim an excuse on grounds of those defects. This distinction illuminates core elements of the law's vision of the person and of the proper grounds for exculpation from otherwise criminal acts. What is "Madness"? What, by contrast, is the law's conception of "Evil"? And finally, what effect, if any, should judgments about madness and badness have on the law of criminal responsibility generally? We will use cases and materials drawn from moral philosophy, psychology, and legal theory to examine these questions Optionally satisfies the writing requirement.

*courses not offered every year