CLCS 281 - Legal Challenges: Local Interventions in the Criminal-Legal System

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

In 2020, police killings of unarmed civilians (re)ignited a nationwide protest movement calling for a radical overhaul of the American criminal-legal system. This community-engaged intensive explores the efforts of local activist groups to document problems or effect changes in the criminal-legal system in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, and New York State. As a community of co-learners, we consider a number of different questions: What changes are local activists calling for? What role can Vassar students play? How does the involvement of Vassar students in these efforts intersect with town-gown relations? Along with readings on police accountability, mass incarceration, and systemic racism, participants also have a chance to speak to and learn from outside activists about their goals and strategies related to police reform, bail reform, court watching, Dutchess county jail expansion, conditions in local state prisons, the school-to-prison pipeline, alternatives to incarceration, and efforts to obtain justice for local victims of police violence. In addition to classroom discussions and self-directed readings related to one of these issues, students also intern with End the New Jim Crow Action Network (ENJAN), a Poughkeepsie-based advocacy organization, in conjunction with other local and state-wide organizations, such as Celebrating the African Spirit, the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Vera Institute, Vocal-NY, and New York LGBTQ centers, among others. Meetings take place twice weekly, moving to once weekly as students begin to participate in meetings with various advocacy organizations and/or attend government meetings, such as the Poughkeepsie Common Council, the Dutchess County Legislature, and the Dutchess County Criminal Justice Council. Katherine Hite and Jeffrey Schneider.

Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.

One 2-hour period and individual conferences with the instructor.

Course Format: INT