S. Current Issues in Advanced Federal Criminal Law and Procedure

Instructors: Jacob Fiddelman, Judge Margaret Garnett

This seminar will explore various topics in federal criminal law and criminal procedure that are subject to current litigation and ongoing development in the courts and other branches of government. Discussion will focus on how evolving doctrinal law reflects or deviates from the practical realities faced by law enforcement, prosecutors, and defense attorneys in day-to-day practice. Subjects include digital search-and-seizure law regarding location tracking, email searches, and cellphone searches; the Executive Branch’s authority to initiate and terminate prosecutions; comparative approaches to pretrial bail and detention regimes; the scope of the federal fraud and public corruption statutes; the “categorical approach” to determining when prior convictions trigger enhanced sentencing penalties; and the erosion of fixed, determinate sentencing in the federal system. Guest speakers will join the discussion throughout the semester. Some prior or concurrent coursework in criminal law or procedure is recommended. Students will write three two-page response papers, will participate in an oral argument simulation in the Southern District of New York courthouse, and will write a 15-page final paper on a topic to be selected with the instructors’ approval.