FRS 001R — Sec. 001 — (1 unit) — CRN 35578 — M 5:10-6:00 PM — 2064 King Hall
How Much Should California Spend on Crime Control?

Instructor: Floyd Feeney, School of Law

Description: The students in this course will be constituted as a legislative committee with the task of devising a budget plan for crime control in California for the next 10 years. The first four classes will discuss the criminal justice system, the cost of criminal justice in California and other states during the past 40 years, and the cost of criminal justice in Great Britain, Germany and Japan during the same period. The next three classes will discuss various criminal justice models that might be used in constructing a budget plan for California in the years to come. The final three classes will be devoted to constructing an actual budget plan.

Format: The seminar will involve both discussion of basic concepts and a legislative hearing type format in which students play the key roles. Readings will be assigned for each class. These will draw on leading empirical works on the costs of crime control, including work that the professor has done for the California Policy Research Institute. Each student will be expected to complete one report (2-5 pages) in addition to the assigned readings. Grading: Students will be expected to read the assignments, participate in the discussions, and complete one outside report. Grading will be based on class participation (1/2) and the required student report (1/2).

About the Instructor: Floyd Feeney has been a professor in the School of Law since 1968. His fields of interest include criminal justice and election law. Prior to coming to Davis, he served as a Law clerk to Justice Hugo Black of the United States Supreme Court and as Assistant Director for the President's Crime Commission. From 1968-1986 he was Executive Director of the campus's Center on Administration of Criminal Justice. Current projects include a book comparing German and American criminal procedure, a long range study of criminal justice costs, and an analysis of the rules governing the initiative process.