5/13/2016

A groundbreaking new class that turned Delaware Law students and men incarcerated at a state Department of Correction facility into classmates is getting high marks as a powerful educational experience.

The weekly “Crime and Punishment in the United States” class was held at the Plummer Community Corrections Center in Wilmington. Lecturer at Law Romie Griesmer taught the group, comprised of 10 Delaware Law “outside” students and 10 correction center residents, or “inside” students.

The class was part of the Inside Out Prison Exchange Program, an international program that develops partnerships between higher education institutions and correctional institutions to deepen the conversation about, and transform, approaches to understanding crime, justice, freedom, inequality and more. The programs are largely partnerships between undergraduate institutions and correctional systems.

Delaware Law School is among the first law schools nationally to offer an Inside Out course, despite it fitting so appropriately with the curriculum of a law school. Law students carpooled weekly to the corrections center, where class was held in a multi-purpose room.

“This experience has allowed me to question my own beliefs and re-evaluate certain beliefs I hold based on my own life choices,” Delaware Law student Melanie wrote of the class. Students communicated on a first-name-only basis. “I feel as though I’ve gained a greater understanding of what it means to be a part of a community by building relationships and finding similarities between myself and other students. I am more aware of social issues and how race, class and gender are affected by them. This has truly been a one-of-a-kind school experience, and also a life experience that I will carry with me personally and professionally.”

---

---

The curriculum involved exchanging ideas and perceptions about crime, justice, the criminal justice system, corrections and imprisonment. Much of the coursework involved reading and discussing scholarly articles, news reports and case law. Students were graded on papers and a group project.

Griesmer conducted a closing ceremony at the final spring class. Dean Rodney Smolla and Department of Correction Commissioner Robert Coupe attended, both pledging support for future Inside Out classes. Students wore matching T-shirts emblazoned with the Inside Out logo created by a former inside student. They presented one class project, read a poem and made powerful remarks about what the experience meant to them. Inside student Quinton said he’s trying to grow as a person.

“I have a great sense of direction now for myself. Surround yourself with great, positive-minded people and smile at the negative and never let it get you down,” he said.

Coupe told the inside students what brought them to the corrections center doesn’t have to define them. “Hopefully this inspires you, when you return to the community, to explore more educational opportunities, because this shows you can do it,” he told the offenders.

Smolla said he was struck by the thoughtful and humble remarks he heard from students during the ceremony. “I’m proud of all the law students – on the inside and the out,” he said.