CRIMINAL Law
AN UNDERSTANDING OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE
is fundamental
to any lawyer’s education.
At the University of Virginia, the nation’s leading criminal law faculty offer
an in-depth array of courses on both the substantive criteria of guilt or innocence
and the procedures used in the arrest, prosecution and punishment of offenders.
On topics ranging from the reliability of eyewitness identifications to the
consequences of plea bargaining, Virginia’s faculty are looking at the criminal
justice system with fresh eyes and considering how to make a more just society.
PROFESSOR BRANDON GARRETT is the
author of “Convicting the Innocent: Where
Criminal Prosecutions Go Wrong” and “Too
Big to Jail: How Prosecutors Compromise
with Corporations.” His work is
frequently cited by courts, including the
U.S. SUPREME COURT, and the media.
VIRGINIA STUDENTS do not study criminal law only
from a distance. They also enroll in clinics that offer hands-on
involvement in juvenile justice, criminal prosecution or defense,
and innocence cases.
The Law School supplements its curriculum with a wide
range of extracurricular activities dedicated to criminal law,
COURSES AND
SEMINARS
Advanced Criminal Law
Advanced Criminal Law: Child
Abuse Cases (JAG)
CaseFiles and Contracts
Contemporary Debates in
Criminal Law
Crime and Punishment
Criminal Adjudication
Criminal Investigation
Criminal Law in the Supreme
Court
Criminal Procedure
PROFESSOR KIMBERLY KESSLER
FERZAN’S work focuses on criminal law
theory. She is the co-editor-in-chief
of Law and Philosophy
and the co-author of
“Crime and Culpability:
A Theory of Criminal Law.”
A former U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
prosecutor focusing on hate crimes and
official misconduct, PROFESSOR RACHEL
HARMON’S work examines policing and its
regulation. Her scholarship has appeared
in the New York University, Michigan and
Stanford law reviews, among others.
Criminology
Cybercrime
Cyber Law and Policy
Dispute Settlement in
International Trade and
Investment
Federal Criminal Law
Federal Law of Fraud and
Corruption
Federal Pretrial Litigation
Federal Sentencing
Free Expression in Cyberspace
Habeas Corpus and Wrongful
Convictions
including a journal devoted to criminal law and an active
innocence group.
Collectively, these experiences lead Virginia graduates to
coveted positions in the U.S. Department of Justice Honors
Program, in U.S. attorneys’ offices, and in district attorney and
defense offices across the country.
Immigration Enforcement
Innocence Cases: How Much Is
Enough?
International Criminal Justice:
Its Successes, Failures and
Future Prospects
International Financial Crimes
Law of the Police
Plea Bargaining
Profiling
Psychiatry and Criminal Law
Rescue, Charity and Justice
Rule of Law/Security
Cooperation (JAG)
Scientific Evidence
Social Science in Law
Special Topics in Physical and
Sexual Abuse Cases (JAG)
Survey of Military Justice (JAG)
War Crimes (JAG)
White Collar Crime
White Collar Criminal Defense
Practice
CLINICS
Criminal Defense Clinic
Innocence Project Clinic
Prosecution Clinic
These courses represent the 2012-15 school years. Not all courses are offered every year.
Through a new
extracurricular
PRO BONO CLINIC,
dozens of students
are gaining hands-on
experience investigating
potential false convictions
in the state’s criminal
justice system and
supporting the work
of the INNOCENCE
PROJECT AT UVA LAW.
Participating students
vet claims of innocence
from Virginia convicts
who have exhausted all
other avenues for appeal.
Members of the group
also participated in the
investigation for the hit
podcast “SERIAL.”
CLINICS
CHILD
CRIMINAL
INNOCENCE
ADVOCACY CLINIC
DEFENSE CLINIC
PROJECT
In the clinic, offered
in conjunction with
the JustChildren
Program of the Legal
Aid Justice Center,
students represent
low-income children
statewide who have
problems with the
education, foster
care and juvenile
justice systems.
The semester-long
Criminal Defense
Clinic allows students to represent
defendants in
criminal cases in the
local courts under
the direct
supervision of an
experienced local
criminal defense
attorney.
Students in this
yearlong clinic
investigate three
potential wrongful
convictions of
incarcerated
individuals in
Virginia. One of
the three cases has
forensic evidence
(usually DNA) that
CLINIC
could potentially be
tested, and two are
non-DNA cases.
PROSECUTION
CLINIC
In this yearlong
clinic, students
work with
prosecutors to
try cases in local
jurisdictions.
Students explore
a range of issues
involved in the
discharge of a
prosecutor’s
duties, including
the exercise of
discretion in the
decision to initiate,
prosecute, reduce
or drop charges;
interaction with
defense counsel,
investigative
agencies and
law enforcement
personnel; and
dealing with
victims and other
witnesses.
CRIMINAL
LAW
STUDENT ENGAGEMENT SEVERAL ORGANIZATIONS FOCUS ON CRIMINAL LAW ISSUES.
VIRGINIA
JOURNAL
publishes twice a
year. OF CRIMINAL
LAW
DOMESTIC
This student-edited
journal is one of
only a handful at
leading law schools
focused on criminal
law. The journal,
which also sponsors
legal symposia
and conferences,
VIOLENCE
PROJECT
This pro
bono student
organization
educates the Law
School community
about domestic
violence and
monitors domestic
violence–related
criminal justice
proceedings in local
jurisdictions. The
project assists the
commonwealth’s
attorney offices
of Charlottesville
and of Albemarle
County in their
prosecution of
these cases by
interviewing
victims of domestic
violence. The group
also organizes
police ride-alongs
and more.
VIRGINIA
INNOCENCE
PROJECT
PRO BONO CLINIC
Law student
volunteers assist
clinic attorneys in
evaluating claims
of innocence
by prisoners
in Virginia and
assessing the
appropriate
avenues of legal
relief available.
www.law.virginia.edu/criminal
CONTACT
John C. Jeffries, Jr.
(434) 924-3436
jjeffries@virginia.edu