About Us
Course Description:
This three-credit course examines substantive federal criminal law, including the following topics: the federal role in enforcement against crime, the consequences of jurisdictional overlap, fraud and political corruption, mail fraud, the Hobbs act, official bribery and gratuities, drug trafficking and money laundering, currency reporting offenses, group and organizational crime (including RICO), anti-terrorism enforcement, the criminal civil rights statutes, the federal false statement statutes, obstruction of justice, sentencing guidelines, and forfeiture. This is primarily a lecture course and not a seminar. This course is particularly appropriate for students who wish to become prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys, or federal court clerks. It would also be of some use to those who are interested in public policy concerning crime control.
I am willing to adjust the syllabus to address the needs and interests of students in the course.
I was a federal prosecutor -- specifically an Assistant United States Attorney -- for over thirteen years, during which time I was totally absorbed in this subject matter. I think that you will find it very interesting.
Class Meeting Times:
Class meets on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:30 to 3:45 p.m. in Room 275.
Required Reading:
The primary text is Abrams and Beale's Federal Criminal Law and Its Enforcement, 5th Edition (American Casebook Series, 2010). Other materials will be provided in class. All materials other than the primary text will be available on the course website. All required readings are essential. Supplemental readings will be available for anyone who wants to delve into a subject more deeply. Anything projected during class likely will be available on the course website.
Students are cautioned to read original source materials – such as statutes and cases – very closely. On the other hand, the other pages of the textbook generally can be skimmed. Often, I will give guidance in class as to what can be skimmed and what needs to be read in detail. Avoid falling behind.
Grading:
This is an exam class. In-class participation will not be a specific percentage of the final grade. Classroom participation will be taken into account in determining a final course grade only under exceptional circumstances. Ordinarily, performance on the anonymously-graded, closed-book, in-class final examination will constitute 100% of the final course grade. Students are expected to act responsibly and professionally in preparing for and participating in class. I do call on students in class, but generally not for things that everyone should already know (such as the facts of a case or its procedural posture).
The examination will be on Tuesday, May 11, 2010, at 1:30 p.m. You may use computers or bluebooks to answer exam questions. The exam will include both essay and objective questions. A statutory supplement will be provided.
Pursuant to Academic Rule J.12., five percent of the final grades in this course must be “A”, ten percent must be “A-“. If more than fifteen students are enrolled in the course (presently there are twenty-seven), then the average of the grades must be in the “B” range (between a 2.900 and a 3.100), calculated without including grades of “C-“ or “D” or “F. This is the standard mandatory upper-class grading curve rule that applies throughout the College of Law with limited exceptions.
About the Professor
William C. Snyder is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law
for the 2009-2010 school year at the Syracuse University College of Law. He is
teaching Federal Criminal Law,
Computer Crimes,
Terrorism and the Law,
Prosecuting Terrorists in
Article III Courts, and Evidence.
In addition, he assists at the Institute for National Security and
Counterterrorism, a joint venture of Syracuse University's College of Law and
its Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Professor Snyder has been
teaching at the College of Law since 2006.
In April 2008, the Foundation for Defense of Democracy named Professor Snyder an
Academic Fellow for 2008-2009. Mr. Snyder was the 2004-2005 Fellow in Government
Law and Policy at the Albany Law Schools Government Law Center. A career federal
prosecutor prior to joining the Government Law Center, Mr. Snyder served over 13
years as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in the Western District of
Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. Prior to receiving his law degree,
Mr. Snyder served as an Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States
and was Deputy Administrative Assistant to Pennsylvania Governor Dick
Thornburgh.
As an AUSA, Mr. Snyder initiated prosecution of the largest felony case in the
history of the Western District of Pennsylvania while assigned as legal counsel
to the Greater Pittsburgh Violent Crimes/ Gang Task Force. In addition, he
participated in intelligence investigations and drafted emergency plans while
assigned to that district's Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Anti-Terrorism
Advisory Council. He served as the district's Crisis Response Manager.
Mr. Snyder received his Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in political science
with a concentration in international relations from Yale College of Yale
University. He received his Juris Doctor degree magna cum laude from Cornell Law
School where he served on the Cornell Law Review and was elected to the Order of
the Coif.
Since 2005, Mr. Snyder taught National Security Law, Current Legal Issues in
Government and Fact Investigation as an Adjunct Professor at
Albany Law School.
In 2006 and 2007 he taught Prosecuting Terrorists in Article III Courts at the
Institute for National Security and
Counterterrorism at Syracuse University. In addition, he teaches criminal
law and procedure to local police departments. He has also lectured on the
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act following his service
on the Greater Pittsburgh Violent Crime and Gang Task Force that resulted in a
ground-breaking racketeering prosecution.
Mr. Snyder is a member of the Bar of the United States Supreme Court, the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the United States Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit, and the United States District Court for the
Western District of Pennsylvania. He is also a member of the International Bar
Association.