Ethics and Criminal Justice
Fall 2026
Class Recordings
Click to be taken to a Google Drive folder that contains the recordings for the entire semester (audio files are labeled by date). Please let me know if you have any difficulty downloading or playing the files.
Class Videos
To be added
Course Textbooks
Scott Rae has put together one of the most comprehensive yet accessible books on Ethics that I have ever read. The 4th edition is very recent (2018) and covers many important topics including abortion, euthanasia, human enhancement, immigration, gun control, and the morality of war and violence. This book will provide us with a solid foundation that will enable us to think well about a host of issues related to criminal justice including lying and deceit, law enforcement use of force, representation of guilty offenders, and much more.
There will also be a course supplement notebook (CS) that will only be available from me or through the rental company. This is a required textbook that we will use most days in class. If you are receiving your books from the rental, this book will be shipped to you with your other textbooks. If you are purchasing your own books, let me know and I will try to arrange a free copy for you.
This combo book containing two of George Orwell’s classic works is essential reading in today’s world. 1984 depicts a dystopian world not only of near-total surveillance but of totalitarian control of both thought and speech. Animal Farm is a cautionary tale of a failed utopia, showing how our hubris can lead to a tyranny worse than any oppressors we might want to overthrow. When most people think of Orwell, they automatically think of 1984 and the dangers of “Big Brother,” but the lessons of Animal Farm may be even more important in a world that is once again captivated by the ideas of communism and marxism. We will read Animal Farm for our daily readings, and we will read 1984 for our book review.
Beginning in the spring of 2020, covid was used as a reason for governments around the world to implement some of the most authoritarian policies the West has ever seen. These policies were enforced by police and other government officials—ordinary men and women who were “just doing their jobs.” This book examines how covid was used as a pretext to enact such draconian policies and will provide a foundation to discuss how law enforcement and other officials should act in times of emergency (whether real or perceived).
Extra Credit / Other Assignments
Additional Assignments will be posted here periodically throughout the semester.
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