Course Syllabus

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Southern Utah University

Fall Semester 2025

Introduction to Criminal Justice (Face-to-Face)

CJ 1010-05

Course:	CJ 1010-05
Credits:	3
Term:	Fall Semester 2025
Department:	PSCJ
CRN:	32394

Course Description

Introduces students to the purpose, function, and history of law enforcement, courts, and corrections. Overview of crime and its impact on American society. Lectures include topics such as crime and the media, causes of crime, search and seizure, probable cause, police selection and training, law enforcement as a career, court structure and function, the death penalty, prison life, and punishment. (Fall, Spring, Summer) [Graded (Standard Letter)] Registration Restriction(s): Intensive English Program majors may not enroll General Education Category: Social and Behavioral Science

Required Texts

Textbook: Lab, S.P., Williams, M.R., Holcomb, J.E., Burek, M.W., King, W.R., & Buerger, M.E. (2022). Criminal Justice: The Essentials (6th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Required reading: Hinton, A.R. & Hardin, L.L. (2019). The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life, Freedom, and Justice. St. Martin’s Press. Also available as an audiobook.

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge of the Criminal Justice System: Students will gain an overall understanding of the criminal justice system and the various components within it, focusing on the terminology, classifications, and trends related to the functions of the criminal justice system.
Communication: Students will focus more on articulating arguments and ideas through written communication.
Intercultural Knowledge: Students will learn about the challenges different groups face within the criminal justice system.
Critical Thinking: Students will utilize information from various sources to draw conclusions.

Course Requirements

Grades

Exam 1: 50 points
Exam 2: 75 points
Exam 3: 75 points

The Sun Does Shine Reading Quizzes (4): 40 points (10 points each)

The Sun Does Shine Response: 55 points

Class Activities (3): 30 points (10 points each)

Attendance: 20 points

Final letter grades will be determined according to the following scale:
93%–100% | 320 points–345 points | A
90%–92% | 309 points–319 points | A–
87%–89% | 299 points–308 points | B+
83%–86% | 285 points–298 points | B
80%–82% | 275 points–284 points | B–
77%–79% | 264 points–274 points | C+
73%–76% | 251 points–263 points | C
70%–72% | 240 points–250 points | C–
67%–69% | 230 points–239 points | D+
63%–66% | 216 points–229 points | D
60%–62% | 206 points–215 points | D–
Below 60% | 205 points or less | F

Exams

All exams will be completed online. The dates are designated in this syllabus. Those days, we will NOT have class. One you start the exam, you must finish it. While notes and the book are allowed, individual effort is the expectation and use of a classmate, google search, AI, or other like resources is prohibited.

For activities, those are due on specific Sunday evenings. Dates will also be designated. You will be given a full week to complete these.

The Sun Does Shine Quizzes

There are four reading quizzes based on The Sun Does Shine, the supplemental book. Quizzes will be a combination of multiple choice, true/false, and short answer questions. These quizzes will be timed, so once you begin a quiz, you must complete it at that time. Due dates and the chapters to be read for each quiz are listed in the syllabus. For those who use the audiobook, the chapter titles are listed below for each corresponding quiz.

Quiz 1: Foreword–Chapter 7 (Foreword, Capital Offense, All American, A Two-Year Test Drive, The Cooler Killer, Premediated Guilt, The Whole Truth, Conviction, Conviction, Conviction).
Quiz 2: Chapter 8–Chapter 13 (Keep Your Mouth Shut; On Appeal; The Death Squad; Waiting to Die; The Queen of England; No Monsters).
Quiz 3: Chapter 14–Chapter 19 (Love is a Foreign Language; Go Tell it on the Mountain; Shakedown; God’s Best Lawyer; Testing the Bullets; Empty Chairs).
Quiz 4: Chapter 20–End (Dissent; They Kill You on Thursdays; Justice for All; The Sun Does Shine; Bang on the Bars; Afterword).

The Sun Does Shine Response
There is one written response that overlays the supplemental reading requirement, The Sun Does Shine, against various fundamentals found in the text and discussed in the classroom. This will not be timed, but rather will be due on the date established in the syllabus. Individual effort is the expectation and use of a classmate, google search, AI, or other like resources is prohibited. This will require about three type-written pages of work, so plan ahead to ensure adequate time to meet this requirement.

Activities
There are three activities that involve your review of relevant videos and your response to questions related to that content where you should draw from fundamentals in the text and lecture to frame your responses. These are not timed, but rather will be due on the dates established in the syllabus. Individual effort is the expectation and use of a classmate, google search, AI, or other like resources is prohibited.

Extra Credit

Extra credit is very rare and may not occur. Any extra credit is assigned at the sole discretion of the instructor.

Course Outline

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

Make-up Policy

If you miss an assignment, make-ups will rarely be permitted. You will have ample time to complete these. If you do, however, run into an issue, you need to let me know as soon as possible. Coming to me at the end of the semester saying you forgot will not be an approved reason to make-up the assignment. In some instances, assignments may only be made up for partial credit. This will be decided on an as-needed basis.

If you turn in your writing/research assignments late, you will lose 1 point per day, up until 3 days after the assignment is due. No papers will be accepted after the 3-day period without approval by the instructor (and proper late penalties will be applied).

You are always more than welcome to turn in assignments early, and it is in your best interest to talk to me sooner rather than later regarding conflicts.

Attendance Policy

Attendance/Participation Policy
Students should come to class prepared and engaged. I will take attendance every class period. Attendance contributes directly to your grade. If you have to miss for an excused absence, you will not lose the point for that class period (but that will require my approval before the class). If you are late and miss attendance, or leave early, you may not get attendance credit for the day at my discretion.

Students that I determine to be disruptive or not paying attention will not receive credit for that class period.

Course Fees

N/A

Miscellaneous

Use of Phones in Academic Classrooms and Facilities

Please silence them and do not use them during class. I reserve the right to ask you to leave and/or take points off for that day’s attendance and participation if you use your phone for non-emergency purposes during the class.

Miscellaneous Information
I expect you to put in the necessary effort to succeed in this class. There is the potential for differing opinions and viewpoints among students that may arise during class. I expect everyone to be courteous and attentive, and most importantly, respectful of each other. All students are expected to be courteous and attentive while in class. Some of the information covered may be offensive or graphic to some. Criminal Justice and real events associated with it often involve factual scenarios that are difficult to discuss. It is not my intention to offend anyone, but please feel free to talk to me if you have any concerns. Students are free to ask questions at any time.

Students are permitted to use laptops for note taking, but I will often require students to close their laptops for discussion. Surfing the web or otherwise using your laptop for reasons other than notetaking is prohibited and will result in an attendance penalty.

Please feel free to contact me at any time through e-mail.

As the instructor, I reserve the right to modify the class schedule throughout the semester as necessary. Schedule conflicts may arise, and I will work to alleviate any issues as they are brought to my attention and make all necessary adjustments.

Finally, if you make an appointment with me outside of my office hours and fail to show up, you will NOT be able to make future appointments with me outside scheduled office hours. You will be able to show up during scheduled office hours.

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.

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