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Fall 2021 Course

Government Lawyer

Required Clinic Component: Government Lawyer: U.S. Attorney Clinic (4-5 clinical credits; either fall or spring semester). Students who are accepted into this clinic will be enrolled in the clinic and clinical seminar by the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs.

Additional Co-/Pre-Requisites: None.

By Permission: Yes. Applications to the clinic are due April 16, 2021.

Add/Drop Deadline: May 14, 2021 for fall clinic students; August 27, 2021 for spring clinic students.

LLM Students: International students on F-1 student visas are required to have Curricular Practical Training (CPT) authorization; LL.M. students are not eligible for CPT.

Exam Type: No Exam. A paper will be required in lieu of an examination.

This course will be taught remotely for fall 2021.

The course will examine the role and responsibilities of the prosecutor, with a particular focus on federal prosecutors.  We will consider legal, ethical, policy, and strategic challenges facing prosecutors. The course will consider questions concerning the politics of prosecution, the role of the prosecutor in the adversarial system, and the autonomy and discretion of the prosecutor.  We will look at policy issues that arise around prosecution, as well as those issues that individual prosecutors face in their work.  Some specific topics that will be addressed will include prosecutorial ethics; disclosure and discovery issues; pretrial publicity; investigations (including use of the grand jury); sentencing; federalization of crime; and dealing with informants, cooperators, and victims.  We will consider these issues in the context of different areas of criminal prosecution, including white-collar crime, organized crime, violent crime, and terrorism.