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Descriptif

(2e cycle - cours fondamentaux) Punishment, whether it be corporeal punishment, imprisonment or executions, has, since the Enlightenment, fueled both the French and the American Revolutions, and been portrayed as a mirror of and a measure of the fairness of our political regimes. The objective of this course is to examine the criminal justice system of the United-States, a democracy that holds the record in term of incarceration rate, has upheld the practice of the death penalty, but is nevertheless presented as a model, shaping our perception of law and order, justice, crime and punishment both through the large diffusion of the sciences of criminology and penology, and through the massive broadcasting of fictions and documentaries on the subject. Throughout the semester, students with be provided with the bases to understand the American criminal justice system and its three central pillars: law enforcement (police), justice (courts) and corrections (continuum of sanctions, including incarceration). Each discussion will provide a healthy mix of theory and practice as students will be encouraged to delve into the specific contexts of the different levels in American government, that is to say the local, State and federal level, and to use the ample data that is available both through a very active network of non-profit organizations, like the Death Penalty Center, and institutional organs like the Bureau of Justice Statistics, or BJS.

Modalités pratiques

Examen