Law

Criminal Law and Wrongful Convictions Concentration

Credit Hours Requirement

Students must satisfy the following number of credit hours through the courses, experiences, and activities listed in the Distribution Requirement:

  • JD Students: 20 Credit Hours
  • LLM Students: 10 Credit Hours

Distribution Requirement

Students must satisfy each of the following three components of the concentration:

I.Core Coursework

JD Students must complete all these courses for a letter grade. 

  • Criminal Law
  • Criminal Procedure: Investigative Process
  • Criminal Procedure: Adjudicative Process
  • Evidence

LLM Students must complete three of these courses:

  • LLM Case Studies in Wrongful Convictions
  • Criminal Law
  • Criminal Procedure: Investigative Process
  • Criminal Procedure: Adjudicative Process
  • Evidence

II. Elective Coursework

JD students must take at least two of the following courses.  LLM students must take one.

  • Advanced Problems in Constitutional Law: Contemporary Constitutional Challenges
  • Advanced Persuasive Writing
  • Appellate Practice and Procedure
  • Civil Rights Litigation
  • Criminal Trial Skills
  • Crimmigration Seminar
  • Federal Courts
  •  International Criminal Law
  • Juvenile Law
  • Mental Health Law II
  • The Psychology and Politics of Wrongful Convictions
  • The Theory and History of Policing Seminar Trial Practice
  • White Collar Crime 
  • Criminal Defense Clinic field placement and course
  • Any course approved by the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs

The list of courses offered at the College of Law varies from year to year. Many of the courses listed are offered only once every two or three years. Students should plan accordingly. Moreover, additional courses on various topics of criminal law may be added to the curriculum. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, in consultation with the Criminal Law and Wrongful Convictions Concentration advisor, may add or remove courses from the Elective Coursework list.

III. Experiential Learning

Students must participate in at least one of the following experiences:

  • The Ohio Innocence Project
  • Wrongful Convictions International Law Taskforce
  • The Criminal Defense Clinic
  • The Sixth Circuit Clinic
  • Judicial Externship
  • Legal Externship with a criminal law placement

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this concentration students will be able to:

  • explain the constitutional, procedural, and evidentiary foundations of criminal law.
  • evaluate criminal law problems by identifying legal issues, applying relevant rules and precedents, and constructing reasoned legal arguments.
  • understand the stages of the criminal justice system from investigation and arrest through trial, sentencing, and post-conviction.
  • evaluate the social, political, psychological, racial, and ethical factors that influence criminal investigations, prosecutions, sentencing, and post-conviction outcomes, including issues related to innocence and justice reform.
  • apply legal research, writing, and advocacy skills to investigate claims of wrongful conviction, develop post-conviction strategies, and communicate persuasive legal arguments in criminal law contexts.
  • demonstrate practical competency in client-centered representation through experiential learning opportunities such as clinics, externships, and innocence project work focused on criminal defense and exoneration efforts.

Learn more about the Criminal Law and Wrongful Convictions Concentration:

For further details about the Concentration, please contact the Criminal Law and Wrongful Convictions Advisor, Professor Mark Godsey at markgodsey@gmail.com.

To apply for the Concentration in Criminal Law & Wrongful Convictions, please request an application from the Registrar’s Office.