Criminal Procedure: Investigation

This course explores the various investigatory techniques utilized by law enforcement agencies in the accumulation of evidence, and the ways that court cases serve to support and encourage policing practices that overwhelmingly and disproportionately harm individuals and communities of color.  The basic constitutional decisions involving the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments are studied and critiqued. Subjects considered include stop-and-frisk, the “exclusionary rule” as a means of enforcing the ban on unlawful searches and seizures, racial profiling, the intersection of technology and privacy, and police interrogation and identification procedures that lead to wrongful convictions.  Students interested in taking the Defender Seminar/Clinic in their 2nd and 3rd year are strongly advised to take this course.  This elective is highly recommended as preparation for the bar exam.

Steve Zeidman

Steven Zeidman is a graduate of Duke University School of Law and a former staff attorney and supervisor at the Legal Aid Society. He has taught at Fordham, Pace, and New York University School of Law and was awarded the NYU Alumni Association’s Great Teacher Award in 1997 and CUNY’s Outstanding Professor of the Year honor in 2011.

Professor Zeidman is a member of the New York State Appellate Division Indigent Defense Organization Oversight Committee and the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section Council and serves on the Board of Directors of Prisoners’ Legal Services and the Parole Preparation Project. He was also a member of the Advisory Council created to implement the remedial order in the Floyd v. City of New York federal court stop-and-frisk litigation. Professor Zeidman has served on several statewide commissions, including the Commission on the Future of Indigent Defense Services and the Jury Project, and was a member of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee for the Judiciary in the Bloomberg and Giuliani administrations.