The Last Warm Up - Tuesday 6/7 - To Dance or Not to Dance...PART DEUX!!!

It is still the question.

So a very interesting follow up, and well, they kept dancing.  We talked last week about the concept of "civil disobedience," and now it seems to have happened again...in the same place, and on the same issue.

The right to dance...

Take read through this follow up article.  Write a 150-word response after reading.  You can talk about the article in a few different ways

• How is this an example of civil disobedience, and why is it important that people should be able to congregate and protest laws they do not agree with?
• What are the two sides to this whole disagreement?  Which side do you agree with

This is our last warm up of the YEAR!!!!

Warm Up - Monday, 6/6 - Last iCivics day!

I hope you enjoyed all the iCivics games, I thought they were really fun myself and we were able to learn a lot through them.

The only thing I want you to do is come up with two 'top three' lists, and put that in your warm up section.

• Make a Top-3 of the "Most Fun" iCivics games
• Make a Top-3 of the "Most Informative" games

There should be two lists, but you could have some of the same games on both lists, or they might be totally separate.

Enjoy!

Warm Up - Friday, 6/3 - Chapter 12 Crossword Puzzle

Make your own crossword puzzle, this time you should use the vocab from our most recent handout packet.  Here is a list of the vocab words from that chapter:
arrest
arrest warrant
probable cause
drug courier profile
corroborate
reasonable suspicion
stop and frisk
exclusionary rule
search warrant
affidavit
contraband
racial profiling
interrogate
self-incrimination
custodial interrogation

There are 15 words here, try to use all 15 words.  If you want to add more crosswords, you can use the text from the handout, but the clues should come directly from the text of the chapter.


...and here is the Crossword Maker

HW - Thursday, 6/2 - Criminal Justice Packet Questions 12.1-12.5

Use the packet given out in class.  Read through the first half, highlighting/underlining as you go.  Answer the questions 12.1 through 12.5 in complete sentence.

Be prepared to discuss in class tomorrow!

Warm Up - Thursday, 6/2 - Verbal Report on Crime

So for the warm up today, you are going to prepare 3 'verbal reports' which you will be able to read to the class at the end of the warm up.  Each report is going to tell the class about a crime graph of your choosing.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (part of the DOJ) is a government agency that collects and reports on crime data from the country.  You will pick three specific crimes, and be able to tell the class about each one.

So you will choose your graph to talk about, so here are some ideas on ways you can talk about a graph:
  - You can talk about the overall trend in the last 30 years
  - talk about any major dips or spikes, when did they happen and for how long
  - if there are multiple groups shown on the graph (and many do) how are the groups different or similar
  - you can talk about if this is something you would expect or not...
  - and so on

There are a lot of ways to tell people about a graph, and the goal here is to help them interperate the information.  You will write three seperate 'verbal reports' on three seperate graphs.

Last but not least, the Bureau of Justice Statistics Key Facts by Crime Type.

Good luck.

HW - 6/1 - Extension for US Marshal Note assignment

You get an extra day to finish reading through those pages online and taking notes.  Be sure to read the blog post carefully each time.

Thanks

Warm Up - Wednesday, 6/1 - Word of the day: "Retroactive"

So I want you to read a post on the Washington Post Crime Blog, they are talking about a change in law that particularly affects our area.  I want you to answer some of the basic questions as you read through this post, and then write a short response.

Take a look at the questions first, then read the article, writing the answers as you go, and finally write the response after having read the whole article:

Questions:
1) What crime are they changing the penalty for, what was the old mandatory sentence, and what is the new one?
2) If they make the law retroactive, how many federal prisoners will be affected?
3) Who agreed to reduce the minimum sentences for crack-cocaine?
4) What is the average amount a prisoner in jail for this crime would have his/her sentence reduced?
5) What is the purpose of the Fair Sentencing Act?
6) What has to happen to make this law retroactive?

Ok, now that you've previewed the questions, here is the article.  Read through it, and look for the answers to the questions above.

...So.  There are basically two sides to the debate in this article.  No one really disagrees that there is evidence of unfair treatment of African-Americans when it came to sentencing drug crimes.  The questions is if people who have already been convicted of this crime, and are in jail now, should get the benefit of having their sentence reduced.  They argue that because anyone getting arrested for that crime today would have a lesser sentence, their own sentence should be similarly shorter.  Where do you fall on this issue?  Write 150 words defending your position.

Good luck