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CRMJ 389, 01 (12406) – Criminal Justice in Latin America Meets: 8:00-8:50 CAPERS 105 Instructor: Dr. Brian Norris, bnorris@citadel.edu, (843) 214-4690 Office hours: MWF 11:00 AM-12:00 PM; MW 2:00-3:00 PM, by appointmentCourse descriptionThis course examines modern criminal justice institutions of police, criminal courts and corrections in Latin America, and further considers specialized law enforcement organizations in the region. Latin America is a region of 580 million people comprising the 18 Spanish-speaking countries of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the Portuguese-speaking Brazil.Latin American countries have the same basic formal structures of government as the United States, and many patterned their first constitutions in the 19th century on that of the US. Formally criminal justice institutions in the region resemble those of the US, and there are similar written guarantees of due process.However despite these basic similarities, Latin American law enforcement agencies tend to perform in uncontestably different manners from their US analogues. For instance, in 2014 the local police forces in Iguala, Mexico were implicated in the disappearance and presumed murder of 43 teaching students and are believed to have collaborated with drug cartels in the criminal act. In the South American country of Bolivia in the 1990s, municipal police in the city of La Paz routinely ignored orders to police parks, part of their formal mission, and instead focused on soliciting bribes in the city’s teeming open air markets. In Peru in the early 2000s, the democratic government of Alejandro Toledo refused international offers of funds and technical assistance to reform the country’s corrupt criminal courts, despite considerable local support to do so. In Mexico, one is ‘presumed guilty’ of a crime until proven innocent, and those accused of crimes but not convicted by a judge represent up to 60% of the prison population in the country. What accounts for such diversity of criminal justice institutions? The argument of this course is that the form and structure of criminal justice bureaucracies in Latin America plays a major role in how they function, and these bureaucracies must be understood through the lens of ‘area studies.’‘Area Studies’ is the branch of knowledge that places the phenomena studied by the traditional academic disciplines of history, political science, economics and criminal justice into regional and cultural context. Most area studies are produced by analysts who have years of experience living and working in a given country. For instance, George Grayson, analyst of Mexico, has made 124 trips to the country in the last 30 years. Area studies uses case studies, that is, qualitative, highly descriptive accounts of specific historical events often written in journalistic style. However, the case studies that area studies uses are often at a deeper level of analysis and detail compared with works produced by journalists. A second argument of the course is that through explicit comparison of criminal justice institutions in and between regions, we can enhance our knowledge of the causes of those differences. For instance, both Mexico and India have significant portions of their prison populations both without and with formal criminal convictions, while the US has no such population. Mexico and India therefor must have some factor in common that does not exist in the US. This course will use the social science small-N qualitative comparative method to come to some conclusions about criminal justice institutions in Latin America. This is a junior or senior-level course. Sophomores may enroll with instructor approval. No Criminal Justice background is required.Learning ObjectivesDisplay knowledge of detailed material from case studies of police, courts, and corrections in Bolivia, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Mexico City, Peru, and others assigned;Display knowledge of demographics of countries studied;Display knowledge of small-N qualitative comparative method through application to the following pairings: Rural police forces in Chihuahua, Mexicali, Tijuana and Hermosillo, Mexico; prisons in Mexico, the US and India; and Latin American and North American civilizations; Display conceptual understanding of what ‘area studies’ is compared with legal, technical, economic or other studies;Identify authoritative sources of data and analysis for the topic of criminal justice in Latin America; andDevelop writing and presentation skills.Attendance is mandatory.GradingMidterm: 20%Final: 25%Book report and presentation5%Teach a class5%Paper: 10%Short assignments, presentations, and quizzes: 25%Participation, including attendance: 10%Required BooksHarvard Kennedy School of Gov’t (KSG) Coursepack: Daniel M. Sabet, Police Reform in Mexico: Informal Politics and the Challenge of Institutional Change (Stanford University Press, 2012).**All assignments must be turned in on CitLearn. No exceptions. ClassDateThemePagesAssign-ment1.11/13I. Introduction: introductions, Latin American regional overview today, some criminal justice issues 1.21/15II. Police and Investigators: Local police in Bolivia: “Dealing with Corruption in the Police Force in La Paz, Bolivia” KSG 1104.0; Epilogue” KSG 1104.11-10; epilogueA12.11/18MLK Day, no class2.21/20Local police in Mexico: Sabet, Police Reform in Mexico, Mexicali police, Mexico’s forces today, crime in Mexico 1-21A22.31/22-----, rise & demise of limited discretion paradigm, its replacement 36-52Q23.11/25------, police recruitment and salaries as means to reform52-613.21/27------, municipal government and police administration62-80A33.31/29Film: Presunto culpable (Presumed Guilty, Mexico)Q34.12/1------, too much democracy, the need for stability in police admin.80-944.22/3------, organized crime95-111A44.32/5Film: Presunto culpable (Presumed Guilty, Mexico)Q45.12/8------, organized crime in Tijuana 111-225.22/10------, Tijuana compared with Chihuahua, Mexicali, Hermosillo122-395.32/12Book report in class (oral), written due onlineQ56.12/15-----, citizen attitudes on corruption, organized citizen watchdog groups140-47; 159-786.22/17------, media and police, federal government and the police178-84; 185-190A66.32/19------, Pres. Calderon reforms, SIDEPOL 185-208Q67.12/22------, Looking forward209-2317.22/24US National Guard in Puerto Rico: “Mano Dura- Mobilizing the National Guard to Battle Crime in Puerto Rico” KSG 1390.01-10A77.32/26“Mano Dura- Mobilizing the Nat’l Guard- Epilogue” KSG 1390.110-18Q78.12/29Mexico City Attorney General: “Battling for Rule of Law in Mexico City,” KSG 1694.01-158.23/2“Battling for Rule of Law in Mexico City,” cont’d 16-31A88.33/4 Midterm exam in class9.13/7III. Historical Context: Richard Morse, “The Heritage of Latin America” TBD9.23/9 “ “TBDA99.33/11Hernando de Soto, The Other Path, informality in Latin AmericaTBDQ910.13/14------, The Other PathTBD10.23/16Dr. Norris at ISA, Atlanta, video: Our Brand Is Crisis (Bolivia)A1010.33/18Dr. Norris at ISA, Atlanta, video: Our Brand Is Crisis (Bolivia) [no afternoon classes, leadership symposium] Q1011.13/21IV. Criminal Courts: “Criminal Justice in Guatemala: Case of the Quetzaltenango Assassinations,” KSG 929.01-1211.23/23 “ “12-2211.33/25 “ “22-28, epilogue123/28-4/1, Spring Break13.14/4V. Prisons, Honduras and Mexico: Norris, “Coronel Orlando Garcia Maradiaga, Director of the National Penitentiary Institute of Honduras”allQ11, A1113.24/6Norris, “Eduardo Enrique Gomez Garcia, Head of Independent Office of Social Prevention and Rehabilitation, Mexico” Mexican federal prison system136-4713.34/8 “ “147-end14.14/11Judicial reform, Peru: “Aiding or Abetting? World Bank and the 1997 Judicial Reform Project,” KSG 1779.0 and 1779.1 (Peru)14.24/13 “ “TBD14.34/15Guest speaker: Ernesto Lopez Portillo, police reform in Mexico, from Mexico via SkypeTBDQ1415.14/18Elite prosecutorial units, Mexico: “President Salinas’s ‘Untouchables’: Fighting Corruption in Mexico”TBDFinal paper due15.24/20 “ “TBD15.34/22In class presentation of papers16.14/25In class presentation of papers4/30Final Exam on-site at Citadel, 8:00 AM, location TBD ................
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