Federal Criminal Law

This course will provide an introduction to Federal Criminal Law, both as a body of statutory law and as an enforcement system. Although much of the focus will be on the degree to which statutes and their underlying legislative history reflect Congress' reliance on, and embrace of, prosecutorial discretion, we will also explore the institutional constraints on the exercise of that discretion. Among the areas explored will be the mail fraud, extortion, criminal civil rights, and racketeering statutes, and the relationships between Main Justice and U.S. Attorneys Offices, and between prosecutors and investigative agencies.