The University of Mississippi School of Law is proud to offer a Criminal Law concentration so students interested in criminal law can immerse themselves in the field during their law school education. Upon successfully completing the requirements of the Criminal Law concentration, the student will be awarded a concentration evidencing their completion of the requirements for the concentration. The students will also have a notation reflecting their successful completion of the Criminal Law concentration made in their official law school transcript.
Overview of Program
The Criminal Law concentration is designed to provide students with a broad-based exposure to concepts, topics and skills vital to criminal law practitioners. The Criminal Law concentration prepares students for careers in criminal law as local, state and federal prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys, public defenders and public interest litigators. A student may be recognized for a Concentration in Criminal Law by satisfying the following requirements:
- Successfully completing 3 Core Courses;
- Successfully completing at least 3 Intensive Credit Hours;
- Successfully obtaining at least 24 credit hours in Core Courses, Intensive courses and Other Eligible
- The student must obtain at least a 3.0 grade point average that includes grades for all credit hours counted toward satisfying each of the three requirements set forth
Due to scheduling constraints and prerequisites, students must plan carefully in order to complete the Concentration.
Core Courses, Intensive Credit Hours, and Other Eligible Courses are listed below. Each Core Course is offered at least one term each year, but others listed below may not be offered every year. A list of the specific courses offered in any given term that may count toward the Criminal Law Concentration will be disseminated prior to enrollment for that term.
Core Courses
- Criminal Procedure I: Investigation 635
- Criminal Procedure II: Adjudication 714
- Evidence 600
Intensive Credit Hours
- Clinics: Externship 654*
- Clinics: Criminal Appeals 697
- Clinics: Mississippi Innocence Project 692
- Clinics: MacArthur Justice Clinic 733
* Externship must be related to criminal law.
Clinics must be approved by the designated faculty member for the Concentration prior to enrollment for the term in which the credits are earned in order to fulfill the Intensive Credit Hours requirement.
Other Eligible Courses
- Capital Punishment and the Judicial Pro 721
- Children in the Legal System 646
- Clinics: Criminal Appeals 697
- Clinics: Externship 654
- Clinics: Innocence Project 692
- Criminal Appeals Clinic 697
- Criminal Practice and Procedure 686
- Criminal Trial Evidence Skills 748
- Criminal Trial Practice 686
- Cybercrime 718
- Federal Habeas Corpus Remedies 716
- Federal Trial Practice 678
- Fourth Amendment Seminar 731
- International Security Law and Policy 658
- Legal Problems of Indigence 639
- Sentencing 668
- The Prosecution Function 685
- White Collar Crime 735
As appropriate, additional courses and Advanced/Special Legal Topics focusing on criminal justice may be included in this category on a case-by-case basis upon approval by the designated faculty member and/or Senior Associate Dean.