Federal Habeas Corpus: Law & Practice

Federal Habeas Corpus: Law & Practice - Professors Tony Bornstein and Aaron James

• Course Number: LAW-489
• Course Type: Highly Specialized 
• Credits: 2
• Enrollment Limit: Determined by the Registrar
• Description:  This seminar is designed to provide students with a strong understanding of federal habeas corpus proceedings. Federal Habeas cases are a particularly instructive way to learn about criminal law and procedure and the criminal justice system in general because students are able to see the entire life of a criminal case. Moreover, individual cases often raise intriguing policy-related issues. Through in-depth study of cases, one goal of the seminar is to engage students in critical thinking about the criminal justice system.

The course is team-taught by a current Assistant Attorney General and a former Assistant Federal Public Defender. Their varying perspectives will provide students with a unique opportunity to evaluate the competing interests that are present in criminal and habeas cases.

In lieu of a final exam, students will write a paper within the subject area of habeas corpus.

• Prerequisite: Two of the following three classes: Criminal Law I, Criminal Procedure I, Criminal Procedure II.
• Notes: Students will use the casebook entitled Federal Habeas Corpus (Cases and Materials) Third Edition, (by Andrea Lyon, et al) from the Carolina Academic Press.
• Evaluation Method: Written brief and participation
• Capstone: no
• WIE: no