Langara College: Criminal Justice Department. Fall Criminal Justice 1115 (02): Introduction to the Criminal Justice System

Langara

College Fall 2010

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Langara College: Criminal Justice Department Fall 2010

Criminal Justice 1115 (02): Introduction to the Criminal Justice System

INSTRUCTOR Ms. Cathy Huth

CONTACT chuth@langara.bc.ca or

604-323-5363 (only during office hours) CLASS TIME Monday & Wednesday 10:30-12:20

L215

OFFICE HOURS A118C

Monday 3:00-4:00 or by appointment Course Description:

Welcome to CRIM 1115! This course is designed to introduce students to the various components of the Canadian Criminal Justice System (CJS), the roles of its principle participants, the interaction between the components, and some of the issues which both facilitate and complicate the administration of justice in Canada. The course will also focus on special topics which include youth, Aboriginals, and women in the CJS, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the changing role of corrections. There will also be an in-depth examination of the Donald Marshall Jr. case and the subsequent Royal Commission inquiry into the Marshall case.

Format:

A lecture format will be adopted in this course. However, class discussion and student participation is welcome and will be encouraged. All assigned readings are to be completed prior to class.

Course Expectations:

Students are expected to read all of the assigned material prior to class, attend classes, take notes, ask questions and engage in class discussions on the topics and themes that form the foundation of this course. Occasionally, the instructor will ask for

volunteers to share their ideas and at other times will call upon students to discuss a point or contribute to a discussion, so please be prepared.

Students should expect a two week turn around for marked evaluations. Please note

that supplemental and grade raising assignments and examinations are not available.

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Required Text:

• Griffiths, C. T. (2011). Canadian criminal justice: A primer (4

ed.). Toronto, ON:

Nelson Education.

• A selection of additional required readings will be made available for students to complement the textbook

Course Requirements:

The dates for the midterm exam and the assignments are indicated below. If you are unable to write the midterm or turn in the assignments on the dates as scheduled below, it is strongly suggested that you consider taking the course at a more convenient time.

You must complete all of the course requirements (assignments and exams) in order to obtain credit for this course. Failure to complete all of the components of evaluation will result in an incomplete being assigned for this course.

¾ Essay 20%

A short essay is due at the beginning of class on October 13, 2010.

Guidelines for this assignment will be distributed and discussed during the second week of class.

¾ Mid-term exam 30%

A mid-term exam will be held on October 20, 2010 during the regular class period. The exam will consist of multiple choice, true or false, fill-in-the-blank, and short answer questions.

¾ Assignment 20%

An assignment is due at the beginning of class on November 24, 2010.

Guidelines for this assignment will be distributed and discussed during the second week of class.

¾ Final exam 30%

A final exam will be scheduled during the formal examination period. The exam will consist of multiple choice, true or false, fill-in-the-blank, short answer questions and one major essay question. The final exam is not cumulative and will focus on course material after the mid-term exam.

There is an expectation that students will be present during all regularly scheduled classes and exams. Any exceptions need to be previously approved by the instructor or, in the case of illness, students will need to submit a note from their physician. Exams must be written at designated times.

All assignments must be submitted at the start of class on the day the

assignment is due, unless previous arrangements with the instructor have been made.

Late submissions will be penalized 5% if they are submitted on the day the assignment

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is due but after class has begun, and 10% for each additional day. All assignments must be submitted in paper form to the instructor.

Academic Misconduct:

Cheating: An act of deceit, distortion of the truth, or improper use of another person’s effort to obtain an academic advantage.

Cheating includes, but is not limited to:

(a) Plagiarism or self-plagiarism;

(b) Copying another student’s examination or allowing a student to copy your examination;

(c) Using unauthorized information, books, notes, diagrams or other aids during an examination;

(d) Obtaining or using unauthorized material, such as a copy of an examination before it is given;

(e) Fabricating information, such as data for a lab report;

(f) Violating procedures prescribed to protect the integrity of an assignment, test or other evaluation;

(g) Collaborating with others on assignments without the instructor’s consent;

(h) Having another person take an examination in one’s place; or submitting a take-home examination or assignment as one’s own where completed in whole or in part by another person;

(i) Altering examination answers and requesting the examination be re-graded;

(j) Communicating with any person during an examination, other than the examination invigilator or faculty;

(k) Helping another person cheat.

Plagiarism: The presentation of another person’s or source’s words and/or images and/or ideas as if they were one’s own. It ranges from an entire assignment which is not the student’s own work to specific passages within an assignment taken from a source without acknowledgment. For plagiarism to occur, intent is not necessary; plagiarism can be either intentional or unintentional. In either case, it is unacceptable.

Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

(a) Directly quoting the words of others, without using quotation marks or

indented format to identify them or otherwise indicating that words are directly quoted;

(b) Using sources of published or unpublished information without identifying them;

(c) Paraphrasing materials or ideas of others without identifying the sources;

(d) Submitting work that another individual, including a tutor, has edited or partially written, without prior permission from the instructor;

(e) Borrowing all or part of another student’s paper or using someone else’s

outline to write one’s own paper;

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(f) Using a paper writing ‘‘service’’ or having another person write one’s paper;

(g) In computer programming classes, using computer code from another person and presenting it as one’s own

(h) Respondent: the person alleged to have committed cheating or fraud.

Students found to have plagiarized or cheated will be given a zero for the assignment and risk expulsion from both the Criminal Justice Program and Langara College.

Course Outline:

LECTURE TOPIC READINGS

September 8 Course overview and introductions September 13 An introduction to crime, law and the

criminal justice system

Chapter 1

September 15 The measurement and patterns of criminal behaviour

Chapter 2

September 20 Perceptions and challenges of the criminal justice system

Chapter 1 (pg. 2-12) –

“Criminal Justice in Canada An overview”

Criminal Justice in Canada:

A reader (on reserve) September 22 Victims of crime Chapter 22 – “Victims of

crime and the justice system”

Criminal Justice in Canada:

A reader (on reserve)

September 27 The police Chapter 3

September 29 The police (cont.)

October 4 Police powers Chapter 4

October 6 Community policing and crime prevention

Chapter 5

October 11 Thanksgiving Class is cancelled

October 13 White collar crime

Essay due

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October 18 Women and the criminal justice system

Chapter 21 – “Responding to intimate partner violence”

Criminal Justice in Canada:

A reader (on reserve)

October 20 Midterm exam Students are responsible

for all lecture and readings covered up to this point October 25 Youth in the criminal justice system Chapter 20 – “The

consequences of incarceration for young offenders”

Criminal Justice in Canada:

A reader (on reserve)

October 27 The criminal courts Chapter 6 November 1 Criminal prosecution, criminal law

and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Chapter 7

November 3 Criminal prosecution cont.

November 8 Sentencing Chapter 8

November 10 Sentencing

November 15 Alternative forms of justice and sentencing options

Chapter 9 AND

Chapter 24 – “Restorative justice in Canada”

Criminal Justice in Canada:

A reader (on reserve)

November 17 Correctional institutions Chapter 10

November 22 Correctional institutions (cont.) Chapter 8 – “A life prisoner’s story”

Criminal Justice in Canada:

A reader (on reserve)

November 24 Release and re-entry options Assignment due

Chapter 11

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November 29 Release and re-entry options (cont.) December 1 Aboriginals in the criminal justice

system

Chapter 16 – “Aboriginal Overrepresentation : No single problem, no simple solution”

Criminal Justice in Canada:

A reader (on reserve) December 6 Final exam review

Final exam Held during exam period Good luck!