Stephen C. Thaman, J.D.
Professor Emeritus
Education
B.A., University of California, Berkeley, 1968
M.A., University of California, Berkeley, 1969
J.D., University of California, Berkeley, 1975
Dr. iur., University of Freiburg, Germany, 1992
Research Interests
Professor Stephen C. Thaman, a recognized expert on comparative criminal law and procedure, joined the SLU LAW faculty in 1995. He has consulted with Russia, Latvia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Indonesia on the reform of their codes of criminal procedure.
Professor Thaman, who is fluent in six languages, obtained his B.A., M.A. and J.D. from the University of California – Berkeley. He has lectured in 26 countries on five continents on issues in U.S. and comparative criminal law and procedures. His interest in international and comparative law developed in the late 1980s. After 12 years as an assistant public defender in Alameda County, Calif., Prof. Thaman accepted a Fulbright Senior Professor Award at the Institute of Criminal Law and Procedure at the Free University of Berlin. He was also awarded a research fellowship at the Max-Planck- Institute for Comparative and International Criminal Law in Freiburg, Germany where he broadened his knowledge of international legal traditions. Prof. Thaman is currently on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Max-Planck Institute in Freiburg.
Publications and Media Placements
In addition to traveling extensively, Professor Thaman is a prolific writer. His articles have appeared overseas in several languages and in such prominent U.S. journals as the Stanford Journal of International Law, the Hastings International and Comparative Law Review, the Parker School Journal of East European Law, the Cornell International Law Journal, and the Chicago-Kent Law Journal. In 2008 the second edition of his book: Comparative Criminal Procedure: A Casebook Approach, was published by Carolina Academic Press. He has published articles, as well, in six Festschriften, three in Germany, one in Switzerland, one in France and one in the U.S.
Honors and Awards
His present scholarship focuses on a comparative analysis of exclusionary rules, jury systems in Asia, Latin America and Europe and a comparative perspective on the use of plea-bargaining and other alternative methods deciding criminal cases. Professor Thaman collaborated on a comprehensive investigation of the Missouri death penalty to determine the criteria used by prosecutors in charging capital cases. The results will be published in the Arizona Law Review.
Prof. Thaman has been a visiting professor at the University of Orleans, in France, the University of Bologna, the National University of Singapore, and the University of Buenos Aires.