Carolina Courses Online

POLI 414: The Adversary System

Course Home Page Blackboard Instructor's E-mail
Course Overview and Objectives Required Texts Participation
Exams Research Paper Extra Credit Opportunities
Grading Honor Code Course Mechanics
Schedule

Course Overview and Objectives

The lesson schedule and all due dates for assignments are listed in the Schedule below.

This course examines the role of the police, courts, and corrections in a democratic society. We look at what US law enforcement, courts, and prisons, here and abroad, do well, what they do not do well, and what they do badly. We will analyze the moral and societal issues that arise when the law enforcers—the police, the courts, and other major participants in the justice system—become lawbreakers: What is the impact of their unlawful conduct on the moral and legal fabric of our country and on the justice system? We will also look at what changes are necessary to achieve “justice under the law.” There is an emphasis in the course on the principles and values underlying our adversary system of justice, with particular attention paid to constitutional principles, judicial integrity, and civil rights.

The other purposes of the course are to assist you to perfect your research and writing skills through the writing of a research paper and to develop your discussion skills through the discussion forum.

By the end of this course, you should

Methods

We will achieve the purposes of the course through lectures, readings, online class discussions, a research paper, and exams. You will be offered the opportunity to participate in extra-credit field trips.

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Required Texts

The required texts for the course are

The Strunk and White book is essential to the writing of your research paper. It is also available free online.

The texts can be obtained from Friday Center Books & Gifts at the Friday Center either in person, by ordering online, or by printing and mailing the book order form.

Additional Required Reading

Some assigned readings will be placed on the University Library's e-reserves (with links to e-reserves on the lesson pages). See the Course Mechanics section for information on e-reserves.

Some lessons assign readings available on the Web. You will need the Adobe Reader to read some files in PDF format. You probably have a version of the Adobe Reader installed on your computer already. You can download the latest version free from the Adobe site:

Get Adobe Reader

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Participation

Weekly participation in the discussion forums is required of each student, and I grade you every week on the quantity and quality of your postings. We need your input to make the class a success. The online discussion forums allow you some flexibility within the deadlines set. However, no one is watching over you, so you must take responsibility for completing all work when it is due.

The readings are central to this course, and the discussion forum is the way for you to share your ideas about these readings with your classmates and with me. You will achieve the full experience of this course only by actively participating in the forums. Active participation includes on-time postings to the discussion forum, the feedback you give your classmates there, and involvement in group discussions.

Late postings are not helpful and will not be accepted.

I expect you to interact with your fellow students. Therefore, in order to get a passing grade, you must, in addition to posting your own ideas, respond to at least one classmate's posting every week—read their posting, respond to them, and get a dialogue going.

To get a passing grade on your participation:

  1. Post your responses to the readings and other assignments by 11:59 pm, Wednesday. This posting should be thoughtful and have depth.
  2. Respond to a classmate's posting by 11:59 pm, Friday. This posting should be thoughtful and have depth.

To get a grade higher than “C” on your participation:

  1. Post your responses to the readings and other assignments by 11:59 pm, Wednesday. This posting should be thoughtful and have depth.
  2. Respond to THREE classmates' postings by 11:59 pm, Friday. These postings should be thoughtful and have depth.

The discussion forum is one of the most exciting things about taking a Web-based course, so use it to its fullest potential. Your discussion forum postings will not be graded on spelling and grammar, so feel free to write informally and often.

Discussion Forum Etiquette

Remember that these postings will be read by everyone in the class, so pelase no personal attacks or “zingers”! It is to be expected that there will be frequent disagreement on the discussion forum, given the topics we will be studying, so keep them clean and courteous.

Our discussion forums are on Blackboard. See Course Mechanics for details on using Blackboard. The first lesson will provide more instruction on finding and using the discussion forums. If you have never used a discussion forum before, it's best to dive in fearlessly—you'll soon be swimming with ease.

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Exams

See the Schedule for exam dates.

Both the midterm and final exams are two-hour, multiple-choice, open-book tests. Notes, books, and Web sites are allowed. However, you may not consult with others during the exam, and all work generated for the exam must be your own. As with all work for this course, you are bound by the University's Honor Code.

The midterm exam and the final exam are each worth 25 percent of your grade.

The midterm exam covers the first half of the course. All assigned readings, including lectures, are included.

The final exam is not cumulative; it covers only the last half of the course. It includes all assigned readings, including lectures.

The following instructions apply to both the midterm exam and the final exam:

You will take your exam on Blackboard. You may take the exam at any time over the scheduled exam period (see Schedule), but you have only two hours to complete it. In other words, once you open the exam, the clock begins and you must click the submit button before two hours expire. It is essential that you save your work frequently as you take the exam (click the Save button), but be aware that saving will not stop the clock.

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Research Paper

This assignment has two parts:

  1. Topic Summary
  2. Research Paper

See the Research Paper page for complete details.

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Extra-credit Opportunities

The following are extra-credit opportunities (and learning experiences), not required assignments. See the Schedule for due dates.

  1. Prison or Jail Tour (4 points extra credit). You must tour and post a summary to the discussion forum.

This course deals with crimes, defenses, and punishments. Therefore, to give you a much better understanding about punishment in the United States, you are strongly encouraged to take an optional, extra-credit tour of a prison or jail in your area. E-mail me if you wish to complete this assignment, telling me where you live, and I will tell you which prisons or jails nearby would be the easiest for you to tour. Most of you will live in a town or county with a local jail, or even a nearby state prison.

Note: Prisons and jails have a dress code for visitors, so DRESS CONSERVATIVELY. Do not wear tight-fitting clothes; shorts; very short skirts; nose, eyebrow, or other face piercings (earrings for women are fine); or other clothing that is not appropriate for a prison or jail. Male visitors may not wear earrings or baggy pants.

A two- to three-page summary describing your impressions of the prison or jail, the prisoners, the guards, your suggestions for change, and so on, is due after your visit. Make sure that you add the Honor Pledge to the end of the summary. These summaries are NOT graded, but you will receive four extra points credit for this activity if posted by the deadline.

For those living within driving distance of Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina, I will schedule a tour for us at that prison, and e-mail the class with the date and other information near the beginning of the semester.

  1. Criminal Superior Court Attendance (4 points extra credit on your midterm exam grade). You must attend court and post a summary to the discussion forum.

You will be reading and studying criminal court cases; thus, it is important for you to know what a criminal court is actually like. You are strongly encouraged to attend two hours of criminal district court or criminal superior court. Most towns hold criminal court. Criminal court might be held only a couple of days a week in sparsely populated areas. You should call the Clerk of Criminal Superior Court in a town BEFORE you go to make sure court is being held on the day that you choose. The best days of the week to go are usually Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

A two- to three-page summary, describing what you saw, the date, name of case, name of court, type of case, and outcome of the case (if you know it) is due after your visit. Make sure that you add the Honor Pledge to the end of the summary. These summaries are NOT graded, but you will receive four extra points credit on your midterm exam for this activity if posted by the deadline.

  1. Police Ride-Along (4 points extra credit). You must ride along and post a summary to the discussion forum.

Nearly all town or city police departments have a ride-along program, allowing members of the public to ride with the police. If you are interested in getting extra credit for this activity, you must ride at least two hours with a patrol officer, preferably on a Friday or Saturday evening. I generally will not approve a student’s riding with the Durham police because of problems in the past. You should call your local police department, tell them you are interested in riding along for a class, and make an appointment to do that.

A two- to three-page summary describing what you saw, the date, name of officer, name of town, and so on, is due the Tuesday after the week of your visit. Make sure that you add the Honor Pledge to the end of the summary. These summaries are NOT graded, but you will receive four extra points credit on your final exam for this activity if posted by the deadline.

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Grading

Your course grade is based on the following:

  1. Discussion forum participation: 25 percent, broken down as follows:
    • half is based on completing your postings on time, within the scheduled week. Postings made after the scheduled week will not be read or graded (you will receive a zero).
    • half is based on the quality and depth of your postings. See the Participation section above for the minimum requirements to get a passing grade, and what you must do to get a grade of C or better on this part of your course grade.
  2. Midterm exam: 25 percent
  3. Research Paper: 25 percent. Of that 25 percent,
    • three quarters is for substance
    • one quarter is for writing style.
  4. Final exam: 25 percent

Course grades are distributed as follows;

Letter grade Percentage Numeric grade
A 93-100 4.0
A- 90-92 3.7
B+ 87-89 3.3
B 83-86 3.0
B- 80-82 2.7
C+ 77-79 2.3
C 73-76 2.0
C- 70-72 1.7
D+ 67-69 1.3
D 60-66 1.0
F 0-59 0.0

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Honor Code

As a student of UNC-Chapel Hill, you are bound by the University's Honor Code. I am committed to treating Honor Code violations seriously and strongly urge students to become familiar with the terms of the Code. If you have questions, it is your responsibility to ask me about the Code's application. I expect you to follow it scrupulously.

An especially serious Honor Code violation is plagiarism. If you are uncertain about what needs to be cited or how to cite it, please see the Writing Center's handout.

Honor Pledge

You must include the honor pledge on all work submitted for this course, including both exams, the research paper, and any extra credit summaries. By copying and pasting (or typing) the following pledge, you signify that you have abided by the Honor Code:

“No unauthorized assistance has been received or given in the completion of this work.”

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Course Mechanics

Blackboard

Some of your class components (discussion forums, announcements, exams) are accessed through software called Blackboard, and you will need to log in to Blackboard using a unique identifier known as your UNC Onyen (Only Name You'll Ever Need) and Onyen password.

There is a link to the Blackboard site in the gray navigation bar at the top of every page in this course. Click on that link, and then use your Onyen to log in to Blackboard. Click on the POLI 414 link, and you will see navigation buttons on the left side of the screen labeled Announcements, Discussion Forum, and so on.

If you experience problems accessing Blackboard, this is what you should do:

Library Services and E-reserves

Students enrolled in Carolina Courses Online have access to the UNC Library System. Visit Distance Education Library Services to access a wide array of online services and resources including e-reserves, online databases, online journals, online books, and live help with research and library access. Most online resources require you to log in with your Onyen and password. If you have any trouble finding the resource that you need or logging in to a resource, you can contact the library through the contact information at Distance Education Library Services. You can chat live about your problem, or send an e-mail to request assistance.

E-mail

All communication from me and Friday Center staff will go to your UNC Onyen e-mail address (the one that appears when you post to the discussion forum). Off-campus users can access their UNC e-mail using UNC Webmail. You can have your e-mail forwarded to a different e-mail address by clicking “Forward e-mail” at the Onyen Web site.

We strongly recommend that you use your UNC e-mail account for all e-mails regarding your course. Hotmail users should be aware that Hotmail will block messages sent from within Blackboard because Blackboard uses “blind carbon copy” to protect privacy. If you forward your mail to a commercial e-mail service provider (yahoo.com or msn.com, for example), messages from me, Friday Center staff, or other students may be delayed because these service providers sometimes place temporary blocks on messages originating from universities. If you are using webmail, the e-mail links in this course may not work for you.

It is extremely important for you to save copies of any messages you send to your instructor via e-mail. If your instructor doesn't receive your message, you must have a copy of the e-mail (with any attached file), indicating the date sent, to prove that you sent the message. It is your responsibility to maintain copies of your sent e-mails, as there is no way to guarantee that any e-mail message will be delivered. Please check your e-mail software to see how it manages sent and saved messages. Some software automatically deletes messages one month after they have been sent; others only save messages if they are filed in folders; others save messages received but not those sent. You may need to send yourself a copy of your e-mailed assignment at the same time you send it to your instructor, or you may need to print a copy of the e-mail message and any attachments to keep in your paper files. No matter how your system works, make sure you know how to save copies of all messages that you send to your instructor and that you save the copies for several months beyond the end of the course.

Other Questions

Contact your instructor with questions regarding the content of the course and your progress. (There is an e-mail link at the top of every lesson page.) Please include "POLI 414 CCO" in the subject line of your e-mail.

Contact the Instructional Designer at the Friday Center about problems with this Web site, including bad links.

If you have any logistical questions as you work through the course (enrollment, Onyen, credits, withdrawal, and so on), contact the Student Services staff at the Friday Center for Continuing Education (phone 919-962-1134 or 800-862-5669).

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Schedule

We follow the approved UNC-Chapel Hill academic calendar.

It is extremely important that you complete the readings before the start of the week's lesson so that you can fully participate in the discussion forum for that week, and it's very important that you complete your discussion assignments on time (See Participation). Late posts will receive a zero.

Pay close attention to the schedule. Mark your personal calendar with the deadlines for the exams, the written assignments, and any extra-credit assignments you plan to complete.

Click on the link for each week to see your assignments and to read my lecture notes.

Weeks 1 and 2 Introduction to the US Justice System

This period is longer than the usual lesson period of a week to enable you to settle in, get your books, and read ahead.
Week 3 The History of Punishment in the United States
Week 4 Criminal and Civil Law; Sources of Law
Week 5 The American Court System
Week 6 The History of the Police in the United States
Week 7 Controlling the Police
Week 8 Court Actors and Processes

Extra-credit Criminal Superior Court Attendance
Week 9 Your midterm exam will become available on Blackboard. You must complete and submit the exam within two hours from the time you open it.
Week 11 Sentencing and Punishment
Week 12 Research Paper Topic Summary due
Week 13 Community-Based Punishment
Week 14 Prisons and Jails in the United States Today
Week 15 Prisoners' Rights and the Conditions of Confinement
Week 16 Civil Rights and the Criminal Justice System
  Research Paper due

Extra-credit Police Ride-Along: summary posting due

Extra-credit Prison Tour: summary posting due
Final Exam Your final exam will become available on Blackboard. You must complete and submit the exam within two hours from the time you open it.