Ashland University
Fall, 2004
Contact Information
Instructor: Scott D. Seay, M.Div., Ph.D.
Office: Miller 31
Office Hours: TuTh, 9-11 a.m. and 2-4 p.m. (and by appointment)
Office Phone: (419) 289-5237
Home Phone: (419) 207-9693 (no calls 11:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m., please)
E-mail: sseay@ashland.edu
Website: www.ashland.edu/~sseay
Course Description
This intermediate level course invites students to consider the various ways in which religion intersects with the American criminal justice system. The course will explore themes such as the religious foundations of American criminal justice, the development of American penitentiaries, prison reform movements, the place of religious leaders in criminal justice, religious assessments of capital punishment, and freedom of religion in American prisons. The course should appeal to students interested not only in religious studies but also in law, ethics, and public policy.
Goals & Objectives
The following chart lists the objectives of this course for each student and the course requirements that measure the achievement of that objective:
Goal |
Measure |
Acquire an understanding of the historic relationship between religious faith and criminal justice in America. |
Assigned readings; class lectures and discussions; quizzes |
Improve the ability to engage in thoughtful, informed, and respectful discussion with others on controversial issues. |
Engagement with class lectures; class discussions |
Improve skills of critical analysis and reflection on issues of religious faith and criminal justice. |
Reflection papers; critical book review |
Appreciate the continuing contribution that religious faith makes in America to issues of criminal justice administration |
Engagement with class lectures; class discussions; reflection papers |
Course Requirements
• Class attendance, preparation, and participation (20%): Regular attendance and meaningful participation are essential for reaching the learning goals and objectives for this course. Accordingly, students are expected to:
• Read the course material carefully and completely before coming to class;
• Arrive on time for class and remain for the entire class session;
• Inform the instructor ahead of time if missing class is absolutely necessary;
• Remain attentive during all classroom activities;
• Listen closely and respond respectfully to the instructor and fellow students; and,
• Contribute substantively to class discussions.
The instructor reserves the right to call on any student in class as a means of fostering their participation. Any student whose attendance or participation becomes problematic in any way will be contacted by the instructor. Students who miss more than four class sessions – for whatever reason -- will not receive credit for the course.
2. Periodic Quizzes (20%): In order to assess how well students are mastering the materials presented in the course, six quizzes will be given on the dates listed below. These quizzes will include both multiple choice and short answer questions, and will cover reading assignments, lecture materials, and in-class activities. Students may drop one quiz grade before the average will be figured into their final grades . Quizzes will be given on the following dates:
Date |
Material |
Score |
9/13 |
Religious Foundations of American Criminal Justice |
|
9/28 |
American Criminal Justice: Secularization and Reform |
|
10/19 |
The Place of Religious Leaders in Criminal Justice |
|
11/9 |
Religious Assessments of Capital Punishment |
|
11/18 |
Religious Freedom in American Prisons |
|
12/9 |
Alternative Models of Criminal Justice |
|
3. Reflection Papers (40%): Students will write two brief (4-5 pp.) reflection papers, each worth 20% of the final grade. The assignments for these reflection papers are designed to assist students in summarizing, synthesizing, and evaluating the material presented in a particular segment of the course. In addition, these papers are designed to assist students in probing further and raising additional questions about that material.
Due dates for six reflection papers are listed on the course calendar below, but each student needs only to write two of them. Further guidance in the expectations for these reflection papers is provided in the “Essay on Reflection Papers” which is available from the instructor in printed form, or in electronic form on his website.
• Critical Book Review (20%): Students will also write a brief (4-5 pp.) critical review of a book dealing with some aspect of religion and criminal justice in America. Students may choose their book to review from the list included on this syllabus, or may review one of their own choosing, so long as it has been approved by the instructor ahead of time. Detailed instructions for writing the critical book review will be provided by the instructor. All students are strongly urged to meet with the instructor concerning the written review and the oral presentation before they are made.
Students with certified learning disabilities or other physical or emotional challenges that may impact their learning in this course are required to notify the instructor immediately concerning any special needs that they may have. All efforts will be made to meet those needs, insofar as they are consistent with the learning objectives of the course.
The Honor Code of Ashland University applies to all student work in this course. Students are expected to familiarize themselves with that code of conduct – especially as it relates to plagiarism and cheating – and to follow its guidelines in all aspects of their participation in this course.
Margaret Hope Bacon, Abby Hopper Gibbons: Prison Reformer and Social Activist (New York: State University of New York, 2000).
Michael Hadley, ed., The Spiritual Roots of Restorative Justice (New York: SUNY Press, 2001)
Josephine Migliore, And I Loved Them: Voices of a Prison Ministry (Chicago: Bonus Books, 1999)
Glen Stassen, Capital Punishment: A Reader (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 1998)
Mark Lewis Taylor, The Executed God: The Way of the Cross in Lockdown America
Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001)
Samuel Walker, Popular Justice: A History of American Criminal Justice (New York: Oxford, 1998).
Each of these texts is available for purchase in the university bookstore. In addition, a number of supplementary readings will be provided in handout form, and these also constitute required readings for the course.
8/31
9/2 Th [L] Religion and Criminal Justice in Colonial America
Read: Walker , 1-46
Week 2 Tu [D] Topic: Religion and Criminal Justice in Colonial New England
9/7 Read: Faber , “Puritan Criminals: The Economic, Social and
Intellectual Backgrounds to Crime in Seventeenth-
Century Massachusetts” [handout]
Kealey , “Patterns of Punishment: Massachusetts in the
Eighteenth Century” [handout]
Dana, “The Intent of Capital Punishment” (1790) [handout]
9/9 Th [D] Topic: Religion and Criminal Justice in the Colonial South
Read: Kay and Cary , Slavery in North Carolina (selections) [CP]
Schwartz , Twice Condemned (selections) [handout]
Reflection Paper # 1 Due
9/14 Read: Walker , 47-111
Bacon, Abby Hopper Gibbons , 1-33
9/16 Th [D] Topic: Secularization and the American Social Order
Read: Walker 112-144
Bacon, Abby Hopper Gibbons , 34-65
Wilson , “Secularization: The Inherited Model” [handout]
Ferdinand , “Criminal Justice: From Colonial Intimacy to Bureaucratic Formality” [handout]
9/21 Read: Cromwell , “Quaker Reforms and American Criminal
Justice” [handout]
Davis , “The Movement to Abolish Capital Punishment
in America, 1787-1861” [handout]
Bacon , Abby Hopper Gibbons, 66-128
9/23 Th [D] Topic: Victorian Women and American Criminal Justice
Read: Welter, “The Feminization of American Religion” [handout]
Bacon , Abby Hopper Gibbons , 129-172
Reflection Paper #2 Due
Twentieth-Century Criminal Justice in America
9/28 Read: Walker , 147-210
9/30 Th [D] Topic: Religion, Race, and American Criminal Justice
Read: Walker , 211-243
Hurwitz and Peffley , “Public Perceptions of Race and Crime: The Role of Racial Stereotypes” [handout]
Slater , “Locked in but Locked Out” [handout]
Free , “The Impact of Federal Sentencing Reforms on African-Americans” [handout]
Alexander , “Differential Punishing of African-Americans and Whites who Possess Drugs” [handout]
Romeril , “Prison Pastoral Care: How Chaplains See
their Role” [handout]
10/7 Th [D] Topic: Prison Ministry
Read: Migliore , And I Loved Them , 93-180
Duncombe , “The Task of Prison Chaplaincy: An
Inmate's View” [handout]
10/14 Th [D] Panel Discussion with Ohio Prison Chaplains
Reflection Paper #3 Due
Week 8 Tu [L] Religion and Capital Punishment in America
10/21 Th [D] Topic: Definitions of Justice: Restoration and Deterrence
Read: Stassen , Capital Punishment , 14-33; 47-68
10/26 Read: Stassen , Capital Punishment , 71-104
10/28 Th [D] Topic: Sacred Texts and Capital Punishment
Read: Stassen , Capital Punishment , 107-148
Week 10 Tu [D] Topic: Religious Conservatism and Capital Punishment
11/2 Read: Berg , “Religious Conservatives and the Death
Penalty” William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal 9:1 (December, 2000), 31-60 [handout]
Ballard , “The Death Penalty: God's Timeless Standard for the Nations?” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 43:3 (Spring, 2000) 471-487. [handout]
11/4 Th [D] Formal Debate: Religious Faith and the Death Penalty
Reflection Paper #4 Due
11/9 Read: First & Fourteenth Amendments [handout]
American Indian Religious Freedom Act (1978) [handout]
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (1993) [handout]
Sherbert v. Verner (1963) [handout]
Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972) [handout]
Employment Division v. Smith (1990) [handout]
City of Boerne v. Flores (1997) [handout]
11/11 Th [D] Topic: Defining “Religion”
Read: Fullwood v. Clemmer (1962) [handout]
Theriault v. Carlson (1972) [handout]
Africa v. Pennsylvania (1981) [handout]
Week 12 Tu [D] Topic: Protecting Free Exercise in American Prisons
Teterud v. Gillman (1974) [handout]
Indian Inmates v. Grammer (1986) [handout]
Yahweh v. U.S. Parole Commission (2001) [handout]
Reflection Paper #5 Due
11/18 Th [D] Religion and Contemporary Criminal Justice Reform
Read: Taylor , The Executed God , 1-47
Week 13 No Class (Thanksgiving Break)
11/23 & 11/25
12/2 Th [D] Topic: Christian Faith and Resistance to “Imperial Power”
Read: Taylor , The Executed God , 99-163
12/7 Read: Hadley , Spiritual Roots of Restorative Justice , 1-56
12/9 [D] Topic: Islam, Judaism and Restorative Justice
Read: Hadley , Spiritual Roots of Restorative Justice , 161-198
Reflection Paper #6 Due
Edward Ayers, Vengeance and Justice: Crime and Punishment in the Nineteenth-Century American South (New York: Oxford, 1984)
Bradley Chapin, Criminal Justice in Colonial New England (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1983).
Estelle Freedman, Their Sisters' Keepers: Women's Prison Reform in America, 1830-1930 (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1981)
Douglas Greenberg, Crime and Law Enforcement in the Colony of New York, 1691-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1974)
Nicole Rafter Hahn, Partial Justice: Women in State Prisons, 1800-1935 (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1985)
Herbert Hains, Against Capital Punishment: The Anti-Death Penalty Movement in America: 1972-1994 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996)
Adam Hirsch, The Rise of the Penitentiary: Prisons and Punishment in Early America ( New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992)
David Lewis, From Newgate to Dannemora: The Rise of the Penitentiary in New York (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1965)
Christopher Marshall, Beyond Retribution: A New Testament Vision for Justice, Crime and Punishment (Grand Rapids: Eerdman's, 2001)
Louis Masur, Rites of Execution: Capital Punishment and the Transformation of American Culture, 1776-1865 (New York: Oxford, 1989)
T. Richard Snyder, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Punishment (Grand Rapids: Eerdman's, 2001)