Courses | Columbia Law School

Section Description Provided by Instructor

This course will examine the legal rules surrounding the investigation of crime. We will explore basic constitutional constraints imposed on law enforcement by the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments?including constraints on search and seizure, interrogation, and identification procedures. We will also consider statutory rules, such as the rules governing use of wiretaps and other forms of electronic surveillance.

We will address a number of questions over the course of the semester. How do we accommodate our competing interests in both personal security and autonomy, and effective law enforcement? How do we regulate, or fail to regulate, police conduct? How could we more effectively minimize police misconduct? This course is designed to complement L6238, the Criminal Adjudication course. It may, however, be taken before, after, or without that course.

The grade in this course will be based on an in-class examination

NOTE: This is a 3-point course that will meet for the required number of minutes throughout the term. Extra time is built into the schedule to allow for class cancellations when Judge Livingston needs to accommodate her court schedule.