234.2 sec. 001 - Criminal Justice Theory (Fall 2025)
Instructor: Jonathan Steven Simon (view instructor's teaching evaluations - degree students only | profile)
View all teaching evaluations for this course - degree students only
Units: 3
Grading Designation: Graded
Mode of Instruction: In-Person
Meeting:
Th 2:10 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: Law 134
From August 21, 2025
To November 20, 2025
Course End: November 20, 2025
Class Number: 32429
Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 0
Waitlisted: 0
Enroll Limit: 24
As of: 04/04 07:13 AM
Today it is common to describe the form of legal punishment in the United States since the late 20th century as “mass incarceration”; but how did we get there and are the very visible social harms of that regime exceptions to a history of progressive reform or evidence of fundamental flaws in the role punishment plays in modern society? While mass incarceration involved an unprecedented application of punitive power to society, and extraordinary concentration of that power on Black and Brown communities, it brought to bear a thousand years of punitive state building. This course explores the relationship between punishment, law and society, as well as efforts to abolish punishment, over the long arc of Western legal history and the major technologies of power that have shaped it including sovereignty, discipline, eugenics, and racial profiling. The course will introduce students to theoretical work that can help untangle the historically and geographically diverse interrelationship between social change, legal reform, and penal practices including: the sociology of law, critical race theory, gender and sexuality theory, and political economy. The course is also designed to help students complete a major piece of research and writing (30 plus pages) for academic (journal article) purposes. By the end of the third week participants will propose a paper topic related to change in penal laws, practices or abolitions thereof, going on today (or a comparative or historical example ) and explain its significance (and policy implications) drawing on the histories or theories covered in the course or related materials. In the last three to four sessions, all students will present a 20-30 minute presentations of their work in progress and respond to questions and comments from the class.
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Requirements Satisfaction:
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Exam Notes: (P) Final Paper
(Subject to change by faculty member only through the first two weeks of instruction)
Course Category: Jurisprudence and Social Policy (JSP)
This course is listed in the following sub-categories:
Race and Law
Social Justice and Public Interest
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