FRS 004 — Sec. 007
— (2 units) — CRN 53635 — M 10:00 – 11:50
am — 101 TB-30
Imprisonment in California: Theory and Practice of Incarceration
in a “Free” Society
Instructors: Millard
Murphy and Carter White, School of Law
Description: The readings address the people who make up the
imprisoned population, the institutions which confine prisoners, the people
who operate these institutions, the conditions of confinement experienced by
prisoners, the economic cost to California taxpayers of incarceration, the costs/benefits-to-society
analysis of incarceration, and the role of politics in imprisonment and parole.
The instructors hope that discussion of these topics will increase the students’
awareness about a rapidly growing portion of California’s population,
for whom the rest of the people are obligated legally and morally to take care
of its basic needs, and to treat humanely. We hope to increase the student’s
factual knowledge about prisoners, to give them practice in analyzing the various
problems faced by the state in administering its system of criminal justice,
and to challenge their critical thinking skills in analyzing the real live practices
of California prisons. We hope to produce in the students a sense of empowerment
in confrontation of a major crisis in modern society and a sense of compassion
for everyone involved in the crisis.
Format: The discussion will center around questions which arise
from the readings, and the students will addressed the discussion from an assigned
point of view. For example, some of the students will take on the perspective
of a prisoner or the family member of a prisoner. Others will take on the perspective
of a crime victim or family member of a crime victim. Other perspectives will
include that of a prison guard, doctor, teacher, administrator, legislature,
judge, taxpayer, etc. Students will also choose a topic (perhaps from one of
the topics we must eliminate for discussion) for further research and the final
paper. The course will include a field trip to a California State Prison. Grading:
Grading will be on a pass/no pass basis. 50% of the grade will be based on the
final paper. 25% will be based on classroom participation in the seminar discussion.
25 % will be based on weekly quizzes used to measure the student’s learning
from the readings.
About the Instructors: Millard Murphy has been the supervising
attorney for the Prison Law Clinic at King Hall for the past 19 years. He is
a staff attorney of the Prison Law Office in San Rafael whose practice centers
on the civil and human rights of California prisoners. He also teaches seminar
for law students in Community Legal Education and a course for law students
on the skill of resolving conflicts through negotiation. In 2005, Professor
Murphy received the Sally Rutter Distinguished Teaching Award honoring his excellence
as a teacher.
Carter White has been a practicing attorney for 19 years and a Lecturer at the
UC Davis School of Law for over six years. He is Supervising Attorney of the
King Hall Civil Rights Clinic, a live-client legal clinic in which second and
third-year law students represent indigent plaintiffs in civil rights cases
in state and federal trial and appellate courts. The clinic has represented
many state prisoners in excessive force, medical neglect, religious freedom,
and other civil rights cases. Mr. White also teaches a law school course in
Pretrial Skills.