Course Syllabus

This is the reading and assignment schedule for weeks 1 through 4:

Class Schedule

Week 1 Begins Tuesday 9/2 Ends Monday 9/8 Introductions

Syllabus ReadingRead the course syllabus and related documents in the top of screen area of class. You are responsible for knowing and following all the information there.

Textbook As noted at the start of our syllabus we'll use select chapters from a free, open-source textbook published by OpenStax at Rice University in Texas. To give you needed context for our study of courts you must understand that courts are one of three branches of government, this is true in our federal government and in each of the 50 state governments in our country. This week read Chapter 11Congresshttps://openstax.org/books/american-government-3e/pages/11-introductionLinks to an external site.and Chapter 12The Presidencyhttps://openstax.org/books/american-government-3e/pages/12-introductionLinks to an external site.

Online ReadingWe start our semester by studying our nation's federal courts and using our digital textbook. I give you links to each week's readings in the book. In the second part of the course we study Vermont's court system, and consider justice reform issues. We’ll use the Vermont Judiciary website extensively, bookmark it now.Vermont JudiciaryLinks to an external site.

DiscussionWrite a 350-400 word essay in which you discuss your education and career plans and goals, to include CCV, any college you plan to attend after CCV (or that you’ve already attended) and your professional working world plans. Discuss how you see your study of the material in this course assisting in each stage of your education and work. An answer of this length should betwo to three correctly written paragraphs. Here are directions about how to write paragraphs. How to Write ParagraphsLinks to an external site.

This is due by Friday 6 pm VT time. Same due times each week. Put the assignment due times in your phone or calendar now, set alerts, and set reminders for enough time in advance to complete your work before it's due.

THEN - answer any questions I ask you by 6 pm Sat. VT time. Note - these directions apply for the rest of the semester even when not specifically given.

Week 2 Begins Tuesday 9/9 Ends Monday 9/15 Overview of our nation's courts

View:This is a 30 min webinar from CCV's library about how to use APA citations. You will need to do this for every week, weeks 2-15, so watching the video now and reviewing it throughout the semester is required.

https://vsc.yuja.com/v/librariesAPAcitationLinks to an external site.

Read: In our digital textbook read Chapter 13 The CourtsOverview of CourtsLinks to an external site.sections 13.1Guardians of the Constitution and Individual Rights and 13.2The Dual Court System.

Also, read and bookmark the Key Terms section for use the rest of the semester. https://openstax.org/books/american-government-3e/pages/13-key-terms.Links to an external site.

Discussion Answer each of these questions using college level writing skills. Each answer should be 100-110 words long. Number your answers, do not type the questions into your answer. Post all answers together in one posting. As noted in the syllabus you must use correct and complete APA in-text citations and a References section. Read the APA guide posted in this week's module.Work that doesn't meet this minimum standard will not be accepted.We use citations all semester, this week is the time to learn them if you don't yet have this skill. You can also contact Mr David White, contact information is above, in CCV's Learning Center Online Live (LCOL). He's an excellent resource for all things about writing and citations. For any questions about course policies, procedures, and content, always ask me via email to my CCV account.

1. Explain one positive and one negative aspect of the lifetime term of office for judges and justices in the federal court system. Why did the Constitution’s framers chose lifetime terms?
2. What do you find most significant about having a common law system?
3. The existence of the dual court system is an unnecessary duplication to some but beneficial to others. Provide at least one positive and one negative characteristic of having overlapping court systems in the United States.
4. Which court would you consider to be closest to the people? Why? Which court is most removed from the people, and why?

This is due by Friday 6 pm VT time. Same due times each week. Put the assignment due times in your phone or calendar now, set alerts, and set reminders for enough time in advance to complete your work before it's due.

Then, answer any questions I ask you, all by 6 pm Sat. VT time. These directions apply for the rest of the semester even when not specifically given.

Week 3 Begins Tuesday 9/16 Ends Monday9/22 The Federal Courts and the US Supreme Court

Read:We're still in chapter 13.Federal Courts

Read section 13.3The Federal Court Systemand section 13.4The Supreme Court

DiscussionAnswer each of these questions using college level writing skills. Each answer should be 100-110 words long. Number your answers, do not type the questions into your answer. Post all answers together.

1. What are the reasons why federal judges should not be elected rather than appointed?

2. When it comes to filling judicial positions in the federal courts, why should the Court reflect the nation's racial, gender, religious, and ethnic variations?
3. What do the appointments of three of the Supreme Court’s newer justices, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett reveal about the changing selection process for the High Court?
4. What are the core factors that determine how judges decide court cases?

THEN – follow the directions from week 2 for this week and the rest of the semester.

Week 4 Begins Tuesday 9/23 Ends Monday 9/29 How the US Supreme Court Makes Decisions

Read Section13.5 Judicial Decision-Making and Implementation by the Supreme Court) US Supreme CourtLinks to an external site.

DiscussionAnswer each of these questions using college level writing skills. Each answer should be 100-110 words long. Number your answers, do not type the questions into your answer. Post all answers together.

1. Discuss some of the difficulties involved in the implementation and enforcement of judicial decisions.
2. In what ways is the court system better suited to protect the individual than are the elected branches of the government?
3. On what types of policy issues do you expect the judicial branch to be especially powerful, and on which do you expect it to exert less power?

This is the reading and assignment schedule for weeks 5 through 7:

Week 5 Begins Tuesday9/30 Ends Monday 10/6 Summary of functioning of our federal courts

ReadFully review chapter 13 using the links above.

Discussion Answer each of these questions using college level writing skills. Each answer should be 125-150 words long. Number your answers, do not type the questions into your answer. Post all answers together.

1. Discuss the relationship of the judicial branch to the other branches of government. In what ways is the judicial more powerful than other branches? In what ways is SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) less powerful than other branches? Explain.

2. What should be the most important considerations when filling judge and justice positions at the federal level? Why?
3. The shirking of jury duty is a real problem in the United States. Give some reasons for this and suggest what can be done about it. What would be your response if called for jury duty? Have you ever been called? What was the experience like?
4. Take a closer look at some of the operational norms of the Supreme Court, such as the Rule of Four or the prohibition on cameras in the courtroom. Research this topic and explain them as long-standing traditions, and which (if any), should be changed? Explain your answer.

Week 6 Begins Tuesday 10/7 Ends Monday 10/13 We begin our study of Vermont’s state court system

Online Reading At the Vermont Judiciary website homepageVermont JudiciaryLinks to an external site. Look underneath the white search box for several light blue icons on a white background. Find the Court Divisions icon and click it, read the material there, and then click on each of the green links below about the seven (7) divisions of state courts in Vermont. Be sure to click the greenish/blue box/link that appears because there’s a lot more information there.

Then go back to the screen with the light blue icons and look left where it says Find A Court and locate the courthouse or courthouses in your county. Vermont has 14 counties. Each county has a Vermont Superior Court: Civil Division; a Vermont Superior Court: Criminal Division; a Vermont Superior Court: Family Division; and a Probate Court. The Vermont Judicial Bureau (traffic court and other civil violation matters such as underage drinking violations and fish and game violations) travels around the state to hold court in each county. Vermont Superior Court: Environmental Division also travels around the state to hold court in each county as needed. The Vermont Supreme Court is one court and has its courthouse in Montpelier, just to the right of the Vermont Statehouse.

In some counties all the courts are in the same building. In some counties Civil Division, Probate Court, and Small Claims Court, which is a sub-unit of Civil Division are in one courthouse in one town in the county while Criminal Division and Family Division are in another courthouse in another town. This is just how courthouses developed over the decades and centuries of our state’s history.

Also read this short lecture about Vermont’s courts

We have a relatively simple process to understand courts in Vermont so it's a good place to learn about state courts, yet it includes several of the methods our book describes, meaning we can learn a lot in a compact manner. First, go to https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/about-vermont-judiciary(Links to an external site.) for a quick introduction to our courts.

Here are our courts:

1) Vermont Supreme Court. One in the state, courthouse on State St. in Montpelier near the State Capitol buidling. Five justices. This is our state's sole appellate court meaning it hears appeals from trial courts. Justices are selected using the merit systemand serve six year renewable and reviewable terms and must retire in the year during which they turn 70 years of age.

2) Vermont Superior Court: Civil Division. One in each of Vermont's 14 counties. This is a trial court that decides liability in civil cases (torts, contracts, etc.) Judges are selected using the merit system as above. Juries are used in this court in some cases.

3) Vermont Superior Court: Criminal Division. One in each of Vermont's 14 counties. This is a trial court that decides culpability in criminal cases. Judges are selected using the merit system as above. Juries are used in this court in some cases.

4) Vermont Superior Court: Family Division. One in each of Vermont's 14 counties. This is a trial court that decides family law issues including divorce, child custody, child support. Judges are selected using the merit system as above. Juries are never used.

5) Vermont Superior Court: Environmental Division. There are two, one in the northern part of the state, one in the southern. This trial court hears cases related to Vermont's complex land use law called Act 250, they also hear appeals from town/city zoning board decisions. Judges (there are two) are selected using the merit system as above.

6) Vermont Superior Court: Probate Division. One in each of Vermont's 14 counties. This is a court that decides cases about wills, trusts, estates of deceased people (called decedents), name changes of adults and children, and adoptions. Judges are elected in non-partisan elections every four years by the people of each county.

7) Vermont Judicial Bureau. There is one court comprised of several judges, they travel to each county several days a month. This is traffic court. They also hear underage drinking violation cases and fish and game violation matters. There are no juries. Judges (called magistrates) are selected using the merit system as described above.

Vermont also has an odd holdover from the late 1700s when we first became a state. Back then there was great distrust of educated people (they were all white men) because it was thought they could interpret and decide the law for themselves at a time when many people couldn't read or write and had to trust those who could. This was the educated class of lawyers, judges, doctors, bankers.

To counter this fear that educated people would harm or cheat the masses, comprised of farmers, loggers, tradesmen, the first Vermont Constitution, written in 1777, included something called an assistant judge, also called a side judge because they sat at the side of the real judge, one on each side. They were ordinary men from the farming, logging, tradesmen class who sat on cases in Superior Court. Back then it was the only court in our state and it heard all cases, civil and criminal. Side judges were elected by the voters of each county (all white men - voters and judges) to "assist" the real judges in making factual determinations in case. Side judges were not allowed to interpret the law (legal precedent) because they had no legal training and hence no ability to make legal decisions. Instead their job was to make sure the real judges made honest and accurate factual determinations in the cases they heard.

We're long past the need for them but we still have them. In 2010 when the Vermont court system was completely updated and restructured there was a concerted effort to abolish this judgeship because there's no need for them. The people who hold these jobs get a nice paycheck and didn't want to lose it and they rallied Legislators, who had to vote on the terms of the restructuring, to keep them. So today in the 2020s when judges in Vermont aren’t cheating anyone we still have side judges. They've turned out to be the cheats themselves in some cases, most notably Judge Jane Wheel in Chittenden County (Burlington) in the 1980s who padded her expense account outrageously, then denied it, and was prosecuted criminally and stripped of her seat.

DiscussionWrite a 350-400-word essay in which you use college level writing skills.Pick any three (3) of the seven (7) courts and explain what types of cases that court hears, how judges are selected, whether or not there is a jury, and where, in the county you live in, those courthouses are found (street address and town/city). Create a new paragraph for each court and use aboldedheading with the court's correct name, egVermont Superior Court: Civil Division.

Week 7 Begins Tuesday 7 10/14 Ends Monday 10/20 Vermont's state courts cont. and courtroom work group

Read This is the second part of learning about Vermont’s state courts. The reading assignment is the same as it was last week, there’s enough information that having two weeks to read it will benefit you. At the Vermont Judiciary website homepageVermont CourtsLook underneath the white search box for several light blue icons on a white background.

The topic of judges and how they're selected in our state and nation is an important one. Please read on, open the links, and read there, too.

Here is what the American Bar Association (ABA) says about electing state court judges. ABA electing state court judges

What does the late Associate Justice (US Supreme Court) Sandra Day O'Connor say about the practice of electing judges? About 15 years ago after her retirement from the High Court (a nickname for the U.S. Supreme Court) she started a series of education and outreach efforts to reform the practice of elected judges. Here are some of her interviews, talks, and materials on the subject. Please read and view each one.

(Late) Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on electing judges - a bad idea

(Late) Justice Sandra Day O'Connor further remarks

(Late) Justice Sandra Day O'Connor -i ideas about selecting judges

Judges in Vermont The best summary of how Vermont's judges are selected is found here. Selecting Vermont's Judges

Current career openings in Vermont’s Judiciary Employment Opportunities | Vermont Judiciary This isn't just for judges. The Judiciary employs a wide range of staff. This is a great way to work in criminal justice and still have a Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm career with weekends, nights, and holidays off.

Public Defenders in Vermont Public Defenders in VT Open the links at screen left and read to get a general understanding. As you read this be thinking of possible careers!

Prosecutors in Vermont - Prosecutors and Attorney General's OfficeAs you read both be thinking about possible careers!

Discussion Refer to week 6 and follow the same instructions generally, and specifically, pick the four (4) courts you didn’t write about last week (out of the seven (7) courts Vermont has) and explain what types of cases that court hears, how judges are selected, whether or not there is a jury, and where, in the county you live in, those courthouses are found (street address and town/city).

Discussion Refer to week 6 and follow the same instructions generally, and specifically, pick the four (4) courts you didn’t write about last week (out of the seven (7) courts Vermont has) and explain what types of cases that court hears, how judges are selected, whether or not there is a jury, and where, in the county you live in, those courthouses are found (street address and town/city).

This is the reading and assignment schedule for weeks 8 through 11:

Week 8 Begins Tuesday 10/21 Ends Monday 10/27 Juries in Vermont's courts

ReadThis is the history of Vermont's state courts. History Vermont Courts Links to an external site.

ReadAt the Vermont Judiciary website homepageVermont Courts Jurors

Look below the white search box for the box/link Jurors and click it open. Read what’s at the main page. Look screen right for boxes/links.Skip Jury Questionnaire as you need a pass # /badge # to access it, if you’d been contacted about jury duty, you’d have been given this number by the court clerk. Everything at the Jury Services link/box and open and read all links you find as you work your way through that link.

Come back to the main jury page and click the link/box labelled Jury Orientation in Vermont. This is an 18 min. video on YouTube by Vermont Supreme Court Justice Harold Eaton, watch it.

DiscussionWrite a 350-400-word essay where you select the county where you live or work or go to college, your choice, and explain 1) the county you selected and the street address of the courthouse; 2) whether you want to write about civil or criminal court (your choice); 3) the duties you’ll fulfill if selected for jury service, and the expectations of you in serving, and what you can expect as part of the process and experience. What do you have to be able to do to effectively be a juror? What would disqualify you from being a juror in Vermont?

Week 9 Begins Tuesday10/28 Ends Monday 11/3 Putting yourself in the role of a 'pro se' litigant, meaning someone without a lawyer representing themself.

Read At the Vermont Judiciary website homepageVermont Courts Pro Se LitigantsLinks to an external site.

LLinks to an external site.ook below the white search box for the box/link Self Help and click it open. These pages are for anyone planning to represent themselves in a civil, criminal, family, probate, environmental, judicial bureau, or even Vermont Supreme Court case. You’ll find boxes/links at the right side and lower part of the screen. Open and read all, you’ll be re-directed to outside websites for some organizations such as the Vermont Bar Association for their lawyer referral service, and to Vermont Legal Aid and Vermont Legal Services. This combined site has a lot of helpful information, it will take time to read it all so be sure to give yourself enough time.

Discussion Write a 350-400-word where you put yourself inone(1) of these roles below and explain how you would prepare to represent yourself in court using these resources, and what other options to self-representation you have. Note theLatinphrase for appearing in court by oneself without an attorney is called proceedingpro se. Here are your options for types of cases, begin your answer by stating which one you’re using. What types of evidence will you offer the court, both physical and in the form of testimony from witnesses? What do you have to prove, or disprove, to win your case?

If you're unsure how to proceed from here please email me no later than 12 noon on Thursday to ask your specific questions so I can guide you.

1) You are being sued in Vermont Superior Court: Civil Division in a breach (breaking) of contract case where the amount in dispute is $25,000.

2) You have been arrested for burglarizing your neighbor’s home and stealing $15,000 worth of electronics.

3) Your partner is suing you for divorce and custody of the two children you share and is seeking child support.

4) Your aunt (never married, no children) died and named you as executor of her Will (capitalized because it’s the proper name of a document), you were aware of this and agreed to do it. Now your three siblings are contesting the Will in probate court because your aunt left you $50,000, and each of them only $30,000.

5) You own a small family ski area in Vermont that the State is alleging has been polluting a nearby stream and river with runoff from the skiing operations. The case is heard in Environmental Court.

6) You were stopped by a Vermont police officer on Interstate 89 for doing 20 miles an hour over the speed limit (speed limit is posted at 65 mph, officer says you were doing 85) in your 2009 Honda Civic Coupe. You know you weren’t going that fast because the car’s engine was partly blown and the car wouldn't do more than 55 miles an hour.

7) You rent a small house from Jose' Landlord under a one-year written lease for monthly rent of $1,500. The lease calls for Jose' to provide as part of your rent, snow plowing and shoveling and sanding/salting. He never once did so last winter despite plenty of snow and ice storms. You had to hire a plowing service and pay yourself and buy and spread sand/salt. You kept receipts from all that total $450. You're suing him to recover this amount.

There is no example for the Vermont Supreme Court.

Week 10 Begins Tuesday 11/4 Ends Monday 11/10 Ethics for Attorneys and Judges in Vermont

Online Reading Vermont Professional Responsibility Board for Attorneys Read all the content for this section at the Vermont Judiciary website.

Each state has their own rules of professional conduct for attorneys, and a separate, additional set of rules of professional conduct for judges.

Here are Vermont'sattorney ethical rules Yes, it’s 157 pages and a three credit, 15 week semester required course in law school. There’s also a separate post-graduation exam all applicants to the Bar must take and pass, the MPRE (Multi-State Professional Responsibility Exam MPRE

The American Bar Association has a separate code of ethics specifically for prosecutors because of the great power they hold. American Bar Association

Each state also has its own rules of professional conduct for judges. Ethical Rules for Judges

Please open and carefully review each of these four documents so you have familiarity with some of the ethics rules attorneys and judges must follow.

Discussion These rules are long and detailed and have existed for decades and are often updated by state attorney licensing authorities in all US states that’s the supreme court of that state. State supreme courts also oversee the ethical conduct of judges. What are the public policy reasons behind the close oversight of attorneys and judges? Write a 350-400 word answer of two to three paragraphs, with citations.

What is public policy? LII Public Policy From the University of California at Berkeley, one of our nation’s leading public institutions of higher learning. Public Policy Berkeley

Week 11 Begins Tuesday 11/11 Ends Monday 11/17 mock presentation about the Vermont Judiciary

Read: 1)Guide to the Vermont Judiciary

Guide to the Vermont Judiciary

Download this and read it this week.

2)Guide to the Vermont Constitution

The Guide to Vermont Judiciary mentions the Vermont Constitution in several places so you need that document to refer to. Here's the link.

Vermont Legislature Guide to State Constitution

Download this and read it this week.

DiscussionWrite a total of 700 -850 words (approx. 100-125 words per court) where put yourself in the role of law clerk to the Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court who’s assigned you to give a 15 minute briefing to newly elected Vermont legislators about the Vermont Judiciary.As always the bolded headings and citations do not count towards your word total.

*Your job in this briefing is to explain the points that will be most importantto explain to these public officials.

*Write one short paragraph for each of Vermont's seven courts, use the court's full name, the primary subject matter jurisdiction of the court, and how judges are selected for that court. Be sure to include Small Claims Court as a unit of the larger court it belongs to and include how side/assistant judges are selected. Do not repeat information if it applies to more than one court, such as the justice and judge selection process that applies to several courts.

*If you're stuck on this question draft some ideas and email me early in the week and no later than 12 noon Thursday so we can talk it through via email or if you prefer, via a Zoom session. Don't guess, don't wait until late in the week becausethis answer will take longer than you think it will.It's about taking what you've learned about Vermont's court system, prioritizing that information, and writing the summary.

*Use this format ofboldedheadings in this order to give your answer organization.

"Good morning, Vermont legislators. I'm Anne Buttimer, Chief Justice Reiber's law clerk. Our presentation will provide you with a basic overview of Vermont's state court system. [Use your name instead of mine and pick a Justice other than CJ Reiber.]

Vermont Supreme Court- xxxx

Vermont Superior Court: Civil Division- xxxx

Vermont Superior Court: Criminal Division- xxxx

Vermont Superior Court: Family Division- xxxx

Vermont Superior Court: Environmental Division- xxxx

Vermont Superior Court: Probate Division- xxxx

Vermont Judicial Bureau- xxxx

This is our reading and assignment schedule for weeks 12 through 15:

Week 12 Begins Tuesday 11/18 Ends Monday 11/24Two Current Issues in Criminal Justice 1) Florida’s Two Strikes Law of Life in Prison with no parole & 2) Pregnant and in Prison – Alabama’s Tutwiler State Prison for Women

View Watch each of these documentaries from the Frontline series on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS – Public Television).

Florida's Two Strikes Law - Life in Prison

Frontline Tutwiler State Prison for Women in Alabama

Read Vermont’s statutes that could be called “three strikes” and “four strikes.”

Title13:Crimes and Criminal Procedure

Chapter001:General Provisions

(Cite as: 13 V.S.A. § 11)

• § 11. Habitual criminals

A person who, after having been three times convicted within this State of felonies or attempts to commit felonies, or under the law of any other state, government, or country, of crimes which, if committed within this State, would be felonious, commits a felony other than murder within this State, may be sentenced upon conviction of such fourth or subsequent offense to imprisonment up to and including life. (Amended 1971, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 15; 1995, No. 50, § 1.)

Habitual Offender Statute

Discussion For each documentary write a 200-250 word essay of two paragraphs where you explain the core problems that led to the people featured ending up in prison. What must our state and nation do to end the cycles that put people, sometimes generation after generation, in prison? Label each answer clearly and post together.

Week 13 Begins Tuesday 11/25 Ends Monday 12/1Current Issues in Criminal Justice Documenting Police Use of Force

View Watch this 54 minute 2024 documentary from the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS – Public Television) and take careful note. PBS Frontline Documenting Police Use of Force

Discussion Write a 350-400 word essay of three paragraphs in which our explain the three most important issues you learned from the documentary (one issue per paragraph). Why was each issue important and what can be done to alleviate the problem(s) the issue highlights?

Week 14 Begins Tuesday 12/2 Ends Monday 12/8Criminal legal system reform - two documentaries

Focus The goals of the weeks 14 and 15 work are for both you and me to assess if you can use the critical thinking skill called issue spotting which means being able to understand what something is about (a current events article in week 14, TED Talks in week 15) that relate directly to topics we studied over the semester. This as a final exam-type assessment of your learning and skills.

View and ReadThis week you’ll view two online documentaries: 1)True Justiceabout the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) and its founder and director, attorney Bryan Stevenson. Also read the EJI website. Note: there’s a lot of information at the site, give yourself plenty of time to read it all. Bookmark it for future use.https://eji.org/projects/true-justice/

and

2)13thby director Ava DuVernay about mass incarceration in the United States. Documentary 13th

DiscussionWrite a 350-400 word answer of three paragraphs abouteachdocumentary. Clearly title each answer, and post both answers in the same posting.Remember citations.

First write about any aspect of attorney Stevenson’s, and the EJI’s work. Explain why you viewed those issues and or cases as especially important and discuss how this week’s video and website readings have affected and influenced you.

Second write about your response and reaction to Ms. DuVernay's film. What moved you? What distressed you? How will you use your career in criminal justice to change the current, sad reality in our nation that this film exposes?

Week 15 Begins Tuesday 12/9 Ends Monday 12/15 TED Talks to conclude our semester

Focus The goals of the weeks 14 and 15 work are for both you and me to assess if you can use the critical thinking skill called issue spotting which means being able to understand what something is about (a current events article in week 14, TED Talks in week 15) that relate directly to topics we studied over the semester. This as a final exam-type assessment of your learning and skills.

Discussion Go to TED Talksand find the tab at top of screen Discover.

First item is Topics.

At Topics scroll to C and open topics for Crime or Criminal Justice OR

at Topics scroll to A and open topics for Addiction OR

at Topics scroll to B and open topics for Brain (make sure there’s a CJ connection) OR

at Topics scroll to E for Education or scroll to F for Forensics OR

at topics scroll to G for Guns OR

at topics scroll to J for Justice System OR

L for Law OR

N for Narcotics OR

T for Trafficking or

V for Violence OR

P for Poverty.

Whatever topics you find and Talks you select there must be a clear and close relation to a criminal justice topic we covered this semester. If there’s not find another Talk. If stuck email me so we can get you unstuck!

From all the Talks at these many Topics select any two (2) Talks and watch each one, then complete the format below for each Talk and post in class.

Be sure the Talks you select are directly related to our class learning. This includes topics from our book, from the current events articles in week 14 and from week 13's ethics policy.

If you watch a Talk and realize you can't relate it to our class learning per the directions in the template below, do not use the Talk. If a Talk doesn't have a clear relation to what we studied do not rely on the catch-all of "it's about ethics." Please find another Talk.

Use only Talks that are about the US. We don't study international topics as they are beyond the scope of our introductory level class. You must fully understand US laws and systems before you can adequately address international ones.

The thesis of a Talk is one-to-two sentence(s) that concisely state what the author seeks to prove in giving the Talk. The summary of Talk is 200 words that state what the Talk is about. The two are different. Be sure you understand what a thesis statement is and then craft your thesis statement for each Talk.

Copy theboldedheadings into your posting and put both Talks in one posting box. Do not copy the un-bolded words into your answers.

My TED Talks
#1

Full Title of Talk

Author’s Name

Thesis of Talk Not sure how to do this? Thesis statement

Read all of it and focus on the short paragraph just above the yellow box, and the contents of the yellow box. One to two sentence limit for this section.

Summary of Talk (Write 200 words +/- 10 for this section.)

How Does This Talk Relate to our Class Readings, Discussion, and Learning? This should include a focused explanation of the weeks, topics, chapters, section numbers, case(s), website(s) from our class that relate to your Talk. (Write 200 words +/- 10 for this section.)

Link to Talk give the URL for the Talk.

Use same format in one posting for Talk 2.

END of course