Ohio law school course inspired by ‘Serial’ podcast

The podcast, a spin-off of This American Life, spent a year in Cleveland telling the story of how ordinary criminal cases play out inside and outside the courthouse.

Jonathan Witmer-Rich, a law professor at Cleveland State University, will start teaching the course this January.

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Witmer-Rich told Ideastream that law students typically are focused on learning statutes and precedents.

“But a step further is realizing that, sometimes, the way that the court talks about it in a case isn’t the same as how the system is operating,” he said.