Learning the law at SFC
Generally, we rely on the law and it's enforcers to protect people from harm and to do away with the "bad guys" who endanger the people's safety.
Law enforcers are the modern day superheroes. Sometimes they fall short of their jobs daily expectations. Miscarriages of Justice and Wrongful Convictions, a class taught by Professor Emily Horowitz, takes students into what happens when the law doesn't quite meet these expectations.
It teaches students what happens when people are accused, convicted and consequently spend years in prison for crimes they didn't commit as well as why it happened in the first place.
The objective of this course is to show students the larger problems in the United States' criminal justice system by analyzing the roles of media, politicians and prosecutors in the cases of those who are wrongfully convicted. Consequently, the course will better help the students understand why wrongful convictions occur and how to help prevent them from happening in the future, thus creating a more balanced criminal justice system.
This lecture style class also tells the tale of the victim's lives after exoneration. Fernando Bermudez, a former speaker in the class, who spent 18 years in prison before his exoneration, had the strength to bounce back and fight, others aren't so strong and crumble to nothing.
Miscarriages of justice and wrongful convictions illustrates how the law, though clearly in the wrong for sentencing people to underserved time in jail, does nothing to help them out in their post-jail life.
Professor Horowitz, being an advocate for the wrongfully convicted, is also a board member for the Nation Center for Reason and Justice.
This organization raises money for those who are falsely accused as well those who are wrongfully convicted for crimes that deal specifically with children and adolescence. These types of organizations are far and few in between but with advocates like Horowitz publishing essays and articles that highlight faults in the country's legal system, more are speaking up and working to help the wrongfully convicted.
The topic of these lectures may be of a serious nature, but the class is loved by all. The most obvious sign of this is walking into the class and seeing a number of senior citizens already occupying many of the seats.
"Sometimes us students get to class and have nowhere to sit because all the seniors will have taken the class over." says Christine Jackson, a senior at St. Francis. "They absolutely love the lectures and guest speakers."
Christine Jackson, a criminal justice major, cites this class as her favorite and suggests that everyone take it, even if it has nothing to do with your major. Jackson said, "It's more than just being lectured at." She added, "Professor Horowitz will talk to us, give us facts, but then brings physical proof in with the people who come to speak to us."
Miscarriages of Justice and Wrongful Convictions is about bettering the United States of America on a justice level, as well as a moral level. No one should have to spend any amount of time incarcerated for a crime they didn't commit while the actual culprit continues to walk around as a free man or woman.
Students will learn how to question the justice system and ask questions from a skeptic's perspective, not letting vital information be withheld or be made up. The course turns students into critical thinkers and advocates for whatever they choose to devote themselves to while showing just what happens when there is an imbalance in the world.
The class may be required for some, but anyone can come in and listen. Lectures are held on Tuesdays from 11:10-12:10 AM and are free and open to the public. The next lecture will be given on April 3, 2012 at 11:10 by Debbie Nathan, a journalist whose career deals heavily with criminal justice cases that involve the sexual abuse of children.
Law enforcers are the modern day superheroes. Sometimes they fall short of their jobs daily expectations. Miscarriages of Justice and Wrongful Convictions, a class taught by Professor Emily Horowitz, takes students into what happens when the law doesn't quite meet these expectations. It teaches students what happens when people are accused, convicted and consequently spend years in prison for crimes they didn't commit as well as why it happened in the first place.
The objective of this course is to show students the larger problems in the United States' criminal justice system by analyzing the roles of media, politicians and prosecutors in the cases of those who are wrongfully convicted. Consequently, the course will better help the students understand why wrongful convictions occur and how to help prevent them from happening in the future, thus creating a more balanced criminal justice system.
This lecture style class also tells the tale of the victim's lives after exoneration. Fernando Bermudez, a former speaker in the class, who spent 18 years in prison before his exoneration, had the strength to bounce back and fight, others aren't so strong and crumble to nothing.
Miscarriages of justice and wrongful convictions illustrates how the law, though clearly in the wrong for sentencing people to underserved time in jail, does nothing to help them out in their post-jail life.
Professor Horowitz, being an advocate for the wrongfully convicted, is also a board member for the Nation Center for Reason and Justice.
This organization raises money for those who are falsely accused as well those who are wrongfully convicted for crimes that deal specifically with children and adolescence. These types of organizations are far and few in between but with advocates like Horowitz publishing essays and articles that highlight faults in the country's legal system, more are speaking up and working to help the wrongfully convicted.
The topic of these lectures may be of a serious nature, but the class is loved by all. The most obvious sign of this is walking into the class and seeing a number of senior citizens already occupying many of the seats.
"Sometimes us students get to class and have nowhere to sit because all the seniors will have taken the class over." says Christine Jackson, a senior at St. Francis. "They absolutely love the lectures and guest speakers."
Christine Jackson, a criminal justice major, cites this class as her favorite and suggests that everyone take it, even if it has nothing to do with your major. Jackson said, "It's more than just being lectured at." She added, "Professor Horowitz will talk to us, give us facts, but then brings physical proof in with the people who come to speak to us."
Miscarriages of Justice and Wrongful Convictions is about bettering the United States of America on a justice level, as well as a moral level. No one should have to spend any amount of time incarcerated for a crime they didn't commit while the actual culprit continues to walk around as a free man or woman.
Students will learn how to question the justice system and ask questions from a skeptic's perspective, not letting vital information be withheld or be made up. The course turns students into critical thinkers and advocates for whatever they choose to devote themselves to while showing just what happens when there is an imbalance in the world.
The class may be required for some, but anyone can come in and listen. Lectures are held on Tuesdays from 11:10-12:10 AM and are free and open to the public. The next lecture will be given on April 3, 2012 at 11:10 by Debbie Nathan, a journalist whose career deals heavily with criminal justice cases that involve the sexual abuse of children.