PHOENIX (AP) -- Arizona State University's newest criminal justice instructor knows a thing or two about the justice system -- he is a convicted murderer.
James Hamm, who created controversy five years ago when he was admitted to law school at ASU, has been hired to teach two classes in the School of Justice Studies in the spring semester, which begins next month, the Arizona Republic reported Thursday.Hamm is scheduled to teach one pre-law course on substantive criminal law and another on due process and the Bill of Rights.
"This has got to be a cruel joke," said Phoenix attorney Dan Cracchiolo, among those who criticized ASU for admitting Hamm as a student.
"It's like Hannibal Lecter inviting Jodie Foster to a tea party," said Cracchiolo, referring to the fictional serial killer and the actress who portrayed an FBI agent in "The Silence of the Lambs."
In 1974, Hamm, a former divinity student, pleaded guilty to shooting Willard J. Morely Jr. in the head during a drug deal in Tucson. He was sentenced to spend 25 years to life in prison.
Hamm served 17 years in prison, earning a bachelor degree in sociology, before he was paroled in 1992 and went on to ASU Law. The state Board of Executive Clemency refused to release him from his parole this year.