Description
This course identifies the fundamental features of the laws of criminal procedure in a democracy (i.e. the balance between government power and individual autonomy). The law gives government power to enforce the criminal laws by discovering, apprehending, prosecuting, convicting, and punishing criminals. On the other side of the balance, a constitutional democracy demands limits on government powers so that officials cannot threaten individual liberty, privacy, and property. This course will demonstrate the procedural regularity using the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution to spell out a list of rules that law enforcement officials must follow in the search for the truth.