Prosecution Function

The purpose of this course is to help bring an understanding of the prosecution side of the justice system. An effort is made to discuss the dual, and sometimes conflicting, role of the prosecutor as chief law enforcement officer and chief dispenser of justice.  The class covers trial, pretrial, prosecutorial discretion, the organization of the prosecutor's office and many other issues.

Students will select a paper topic upon consultation with Professor Belsky.  This guide provides information on:

• Conducting research - Finding law review articles, using online treatises, specific web sources dealing with the prosecution function, do's and don'ts.
• Finding people to interview, or sources for written interviews if you really can not find a person to interview.
• Citation format - examples of law review citation formats for articles, books and websites.  Information on footnotes and short form citations.  Links for more help.
• Grammar - common mistakes and links for more help.
• Plagiarism

Another useful guide:

Scholarly legal articles often follow this arrangement:

1.  Introduction - includes the statement of the claim (In other words: point of view, opinion, thesis statement, problem & solution or issue & resolution)

2. Background Section - Describes the existing law, facts and/or history necessary to understand the problem.

3. Proof of the Claim - Show your claim is correct and the best way to solve the problem.

4. Conclusion

Source:  Eugene Volokh, Academic Legal Writing: Law review articles, student notes, seminar papers, and getting on law review 10 (Thomson Reuters 2016).