Juvenile Justice Topics: Practical Applications
Certificate(s): Public Interest and Social Justice Law (Skills)
Course Description:
The legal topics of this course include: Fourth Amendment Searches and Seizures; Fifth Amendment and Miranda Warnings; Unlawful Sex Crimes; Property Crimes (Theft and Vandalism); Three Strikes; Gang Conspiracy Laws; Proposition 21; Juvenile Justice Trials; Hate Crimes; Accomplice Liability; Drugs and Alcohol; and Recidivism. Students teach practical legal skills primarily to at-risk youth on juvenile probation. Legal concepts include constitutional law, criminal law, and criminal procedure. The 14-week Program seeks to use the law as a vehicle to build life-skills in disadvantaged youth while empowering them to exit the juvenile justice system. The law students will serve not only as an instructor, but as a weekly positive role model for 20 youth over the 14-week period. The course includes three 8-hour training sessions, three lunch seminars, and regular check-in meetings. The trainings and seminars provide law students with instruction about substantive legal issues and serves as a forum for sharing general impressions and ideas concerning successful teaching techniques.
Graded Credit/No Credit.
Class Notes:
Credit/No Credit. This course is for students who would like to receive credit for volunteering with Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY), a juvenile justice nonprofit with a mission to break the cycle of crime, violence, and incarceration in the lives of teens through legal education, leadership training, and one-on-one mentoring. To learn more, visit flyprogram.org. To receive credit, you will facilitate FLY’s legal education course for at-risk youth in teams of 2-4 facilitators. You MUST be eligible and available to fulfill the commitment required of a volunteer facilitator. Student
