Instructor:

Jeanne Curran, Ph.D., Esq.
Office: SBS-B326
Telephone: 310-243-3831
Office Hours: Tuesday 4 - 5 pm; Wednesday 12 - 2 pm; By appointment.
Teaching and Research Associate: Patricia Acone

Course Description:

A sociological perspective on the sytems of governance and law that define and enforce the statutory and normative expectations for behavior in a given culture and/or society. Emphasis on the very nature and purpose of the law, including retribution, rehabilitation, restoration of the situation prior to the disturbance, revenge, and retaliation. Relationship of criminal and civil law, and the power differentials involved. (Foucault on power, and Habermas on legitimacy and public discourse.) Relationship of law to justice. (Rawls on Justice as fairness. Nozick on libertarian stance against distributive justice.) In addition to these theoretical perspectives on the law we will use much of our face-to-face class time for developing the skills of advocacy, or what is known in philosophy as illocutionary speech, speech directed at achieving not consensus, but an understanding that prefigures any effective effort at instrumental reason. To do this you will need some basic training in legal terms and courtroom procedure. And, finally, we will work collaboratively on the written research to support a study project in citizen's arrest. Our concerns with violence, with homeland security, with the protection and preservation of constitutional rights makes this a timely issue, as well as affording you a taste of legal research as well as legal argumentation.

Texts:

1. Bruce Arrigo, ed. (1999) Social Justice, Criminal Justice: The Maturation of Critical Theory in Law, Crime and, Deviance. West/Wadsworth. 1999. ISBN: 0-534-54558-0 (pbk.) Required.

   Arrigo and most of the authors of the chapters in this text are critical theorists. That is, they examine the criminal justice and social justice system from the perspective of what is not working, and what needs to work more effectively. Most of them also share the interest of peace, and are opposed to war, such as has brought us to the brink of extinction. Some of the names you will recognize are Richard Quinney, who originally spoke of crime as socially defined, and who now pleads ardently for peacemaking. And Hal Pepinsky, whose focus is on survivors who were sexually abused as children. Pepinsky outlines the steps we need to take to negotiate on a peaceful level in the Peacemaking Primer.

2. Carolyn Choa and David Su Li-Qun, eds. (1998) Contemporary Chinese Fiction. Picador , Macmillan Publishers, Ltd. 1998) ISBN: 0-330-35264-4 (pbk.) Required.

   This is a collection of short stories I actually bought and read while I was in China. Because China represents so different a cultural system to our own, these stories provide many examples to look at the legal system as it evolves in a non-democratic non-Western society. Analysis of the stories will provide an opportunity to practice conceptual linking to the theoretical perspectives we have covered.

   AND

3. Site Teaching Modules for Reinterpreting Theory Required.

Course Objectives:

• To provide some basic perspective on the extent to which the law is embedded in the social structure.
• To recognize and communicate successfully how advocacy is affected by multiculturalism.
• To provide an experiential forum for civil discourse and to learn the skilled discipline of participation in that forum - litigation practice.
• To master a small core of legal terms and concepts that will permit a small legal research project - legal research practice.
• To recognize and argue effectively many perspectives on dominance and oppression as they are found in the law and the culture.
• To relate principles of justice, fairness, individual initiative, ethics and legitimacy to our system of law.
• To recognize and discuss legal systems in other cultures, as exemplified in Contemporary Chinese Fiction.

Grading and Suggested Measures of Learning:

• Using Common Sense:

  Permission to enroll in this course is premised upon upper division status that we assume renders you capable of performing competently in this course. However, I recognize that crises occur and that you have many conflicting demands as students, family members, and workers. Please remember that A's are earned, not given for the status characteristic of "being a good student who could get an A if he/she made the effort or had the time." One way to deal with such crises effectively is to be sure that we know when they are happening. Because most of my lectures and your practice are on the site, it's easier to make up missed time over conflicts than you might think.

  Nota bene: If you have the flu, please don't come and give it to the rest of us. We'll help you catch up when you're well. I lost three weeks to flu this summer. The bugs are getting stronger and more resistant to medication. If I lose three weeks during classes, you'll be left with a substitute.

  If you haven't slept, and are falling asleep from exhaustion, please stay home and sleep. Sleep deprivation is a very real problem. We all drive freeways to get here, and go home often late at night. You can kill yourself andor others by falling asleep, even momentarily, at the wheel. Please don't.

  I do not give specific deadlines, because I want you to use your common sense and your own discipline to study effectively. All work can be made up within university limits.

• Our Grading Standards:

  • Evidence of Learning Available online only. Our grading standards and what to do to "get an A." And, no, we don't give tests, at least not to determine grades.

Plausible Schedule for Reading Course Texts:

1. Week of August 26:
   • Arrigo. Social Justice, Criminal Justice. Chapter 1. Marxism and Social Justice: Thinking About Social Justice, Eclipsing Criminal Justice. pp. 14-27.
   • Choa and Li-Quneds. from Beijing Opera pp. 1-10.
   • Site Teaching Module for Week 1, including study and practice materials. Online only.

2. Week of September 2
   • Arrigo. Social Justice, Criminal Justice. Chapter 2. Socialist Feminism, Criminology, and Social Justice. pp. 31-47.
   • Choa and Li-Qun, eds. Hong Taitai pp. 11-21.
   • Choa and Li-Qun, eds. Fate pp. 22-41.
   • Site Teaching Module for Week 2, including study and practice materials. Online only.

3. Week of September 9
   • Arrigo. Social Justice, Criminal Justice. Chapter 3. Peacemaking Primer. pp. 52-69.
   • Choa and Li-Qun, eds. Life in a Small Courtyard pp. 42-62.
   • Choa and Li-Qun, eds. Between Themselves pp. 63-80.
   • Site Teaching Module for Week 3, including study and practice materials. Online only.

4. Week of September 16
   • Arrigo. Social Justice, Criminal Justice. Chapter 4. The Prophetic meaning of Social Justice. pp.73-89.
   • Choa and Li-Qun, eds. Between Life and Death pp. 81-97.
   • Choa and Li-Qun, eds. Cherry pp. 98-107.
   • Site Teaching Module for Week 4, including study and practice materials. Online only.

5. Week of September 23
   • Tuesday, September 24: Students receive first accounting of learning evidence submitted for a grade.
     See Evidence of Learning.

   • Arrigo. Social Justice, Criminal Justice. Chapter 5. Anarchist Criminology and Social Justice. pp. 93-106.
   • Choa and Li-Qun, eds. Young Muo pp. 108-120.
   • Choa and Li-Qun, eds. The Window pp. 121-142.
   • Site Teaching Module for Week 5, including study and practice materials. Online only.

6. Week of September 30
   • Arrigo. Social Justice, Criminal Justice. Chapter 6. Postmodern Feminist Criminology and Social Justice. pp. 111-126.
   • Choa and Li-Qun, eds. The Lovesick Crow and Other Fables pp. 143-154.
   • Choa and Li-Qun, eds. The General and the Small Town pp. 155-170.
   • Site Teaching Module for Week 6, including study and practice materials. Online only.

7. Week of October 7
   • Arrigo. Social Justice, Criminal Justice. Chapter 7. Semiotics and Justice: "Justice," Justice, and JUSTICE. Contradictions and the Ideology of Criminal Justice. pp. 131-147.
   • Choa and Li-Qun, eds. Black Walls pp. 171-180.
   • Choa and Li-Qun, eds. Big Chan pp. 181-190.
   • Site Teaching Module for Week 7, including study and practice materials. Online only.

8. Week of October 14
   • Review of the first hundred or so pages of each book. Recall that you will probably be reading only two of them.

   • Arrigo. Social Justice, Criminal Justice. Chapter 8. An Integrative-Constitutive Theory of Crime, Law, and Social Justice. pp. 152-172.
   • Choa and Li-Qun, eds. Han the Forger pp. 191-204.
   • Choa and Li-Qun, eds. Love Must Not Be Forgotten pp. 205-219.
   • Site Teaching Module for Week 8, including study and practice materials. Online only.

9. Week of October 21
   • Tuesday, October 22: Students receive second accounting of learning evidence submitted for a grade.
     See Evidence of Learning.

   • Arrigo. Social Justice, Criminal Justice. Chapter 9. Critical Race Theory and Social Justice. pp. 178-187.
   • Choa and Li-Qun, eds. The Family on the Other Side of the Mountain pp. 220-228.
   • Choa and Li-Qun, eds. Three Sketches pp. 229-236.
   • Site Teaching Module for Week 9, including study and practice materials. Online only.

10. Week of October 28

    • Arrigo. Social Justice, Criminal Justice. Chapter 10. Postmodern Feminist Criminology and Social Justice. pp. 111-126. A Nonlinear Theory of Justice. Affirmative Moments in Postmodern Criminology. pp. 190-199.
    • Choa and Li-Qun, eds. The Tall Woman and Her Short Husband pp. 237-248.
    • Choa and Li-Qun, eds. The sistant Sound of Tree-felling pp. 249-264.
    • Site Teaching Module for Week 10, including study and practice materials. Online only.

11. Week of November 4
    • Arrigo. Social Justice, Criminal Justice. Chapter 11. Catastrophe Theory, Discourse, and Conflict Resolution Generating the "Third Way." pp. 203-221.
    • Choa and Li-Qun, eds. Six Short Pieces pp. 265-277.
    • Choa and Li-Qun, eds. One Centimetre pp. 278-293.
    • Site Teaching Module for Week 11, including study and practice materials. Online only.

12. Week of November 11
    • Arrigo. Social Justice, Criminal Justice. Chapter 12. AIDS, Queers, and Criminal (In) Justice. Repressing Radical AIDS Activism. pp. 226-249.
    • Texts completed. See for assignments.
    • Site Teaching Module for Week 12, including study and practice materials. Online only.

13. Week of November 18
    • Tuesday, November 19: Students receive third accounting of learning evidence submitted for a grade.
      See Evidence of Learning.

    • Texts completed. See for assignments.
    • Site Teaching Module for Week 13, including study and practice materials. Online only.

14. Week of November 25
    
    • Thangsgiving Holiday this week. No class on Thursday.

    • Texts completed. See for assignments.
    • Site Teaching Module for Week 14, including study and practice materials. Online only.

15. Week of December 2
    • Friday, December 6, is the last day of classes.

    • Review and Class Presentations.
    • Site Teaching Module for Week 15, including study and practice materials. Online only.

16. Week of December 9
    • Exams: December 9-13. Because we consider exams structurally violent and inadequate measures of learning, there will be no exam in this class. The time will be available for face-to-face interaction amongst ourselves.
    • Students receive final accounting of learning evidence submitted for a grade.
      See Evidence of Learning.

17. Week of December 16
    • Grades Due.

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Site Copyright: Jeanne Curran and Susan R. Takata and Individual Authors, August 2002.
"Fair use" encouraged.

Footnote 1. Esq. means Esquire, and is sometimes used to indicate that you are a member of the Bar.
jeanne is a member of the California Bar.

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