Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

This course will offer students an opportunity to learn about the law of civil liability and its relevance to the Criminal Justice profession. The course will focus not only on the potential liability of police officers, corrections officers and other criminal justice practitioners for deprivation of civilians° US Constitutional rights under state and federal law, but will also address officers° day to day dealings with civil law issues while performing duties mandated under criminal law. Such areas of civil law with which officers may come into contact include Landlord/Tenant, Domestic Relations, towing procedures, etc.

The material in this course will be presented in lecture and discussion format. The instructor may also utilize guest speakers, videos, current events, journal articles, recent court decisions, small group projects and service learning (community based) projects to enhance the educational experience and emphasize ongoing relevance to the lives of the students and their futures.

Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:

1. Analyze situations which may create a potential liability or ethical challenges for criminal justice employees and their agencies.
2. Examine the civil litigation process and other alternatives for addressing misconduct of criminal justice professionals, including focus on barriers to accountability.
3. Evaluate the role of the federal government in ensuring state adherence to federal constitutional and statutory standards with respect to criminal justice actions.

Objective and subjective examinations, written assignments, and projects.

This course will address topics including, but not limited to,

• General Tort Liability
• Title 42 United States Code Section 1983
• Liability in Law Enforcement
• Liability in Corrections
• Liability in other areas of Criminal Justice Practice
• Personnel Issues
• Defenses and Lawsuit Prevention Strategies