Crimes against the person includes: homicide, kidnapping, assault, battery, robbery, and rape. All of these crimes are serious offenses, and a defendant found guilty of any one of them may receive a harsh sentence. The laws also protects the defendant and considers the circumstances of each offense. Some concepts and terms that are covered in this unit include: Homicide, First-Degree murder, premeditated, Felony murder,Second-Degree murder, Voluntary manslaughter, Involuntary manslaughter, Negligent homicide, and Negligence.
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Almost all crimes require an illegal act accompanied by a guilty state of mind. With that in mind this usually means that the prohibited act was done intentionally, knowingly, or willfully. The legal term for a guilty mind is Mens Rea. In other cases carelessness is not considered a guilty state of mind. State of mind is different from the idea of motive, and the idea of motive is the person's reason for carrying out a specific act.
During this unit we will engage and look at different types of crime within the United States. For example, personal crimes include assault, battery, homicide, and rape to identify a few. As for property crimes those would include but not limited to larceny, robbery, burglary, arson, embezzlement, and forgery. Other criminal categories include inchoate crimes, otherwise known as incomplete crimes such as solicitation and conspiracy. Finally there are statutory crimes that violate a federal statute like alcohol related crimes and selling alcohol to a minor. Included in this list that are just as important are the differences between a felony and a misdemeanor. In conclusion, we will study the various types of crimes that exist within our society.
In this unit we will focus on the Lawyers. There are more than one million lawyers in the United States today. Many of these lawyers practice in the private sector. For example, many of those lawyers work for cooperations, unions, or other associations. A small number of work for public interest or legal aid organizations. There is another smaller amount of lawyers that are law professors, judges, or elected officials. Even though most people think lawyers spend most of their time in court most lawyers rarely go to court. Many lawyers practice personal injury, estate planning, bankruptcy, employment, immigration, and criminal law. However most lawyers spend time giving advice, drafting legal opinions, and negotiating settlements. In some cases those lawyers that go to court are called trial attorneys or litigators. These lawyers work as advocates for their clients, and try everything in their power to argue their clients position. Similarly, in criminal cases the lawyer does everything they can to help their client get released or acquitted of the charges that they are facing. This is just a general description of this unit as a class we will dig deeper into the different types of lawyers and the responsibilities that they have related to their prospective practice.
During this Unit students will analyze the different court systems that exist in each state, within the United States. For example, the Federal Court System, which exists at the national level, the Trial and Appeals courts, and the Tribal Justice Systems. To add to that the highest court in the United States is the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court hears appeals from other court systems and make rulings on a variety of different cases. Recently the Supreme Court has made rulings on Same Sex Marriage, Immigration, and Transgendered policies just to name a few. Finally, we will study the various parts of how court systems operate and the people involved.
Many community advocates work to solve problems in their communities by lobbying for better laws and public policies. The ability to collect the facts about an issue, formulate an opinion listen to opposing viewpoints, and discuss and debate the best course of action are valuable skills in settling conflicts. Resolving conflicts before you get to court can sometimes be the best course of action. The essential question is not whether there will be a conflict in your life, but how you will respond to it. Many times there are disadvantages in going to court to resolve conflict. The court process can be expensive and time consuming. In fact sometimes going to court can make the problem worse. For example, in divorces, and in child custody disputes the two parties can get more angry and become bitter. In some cases some people feel by going to court they will lose even if they win. In extreme cases the kids tend to be the victims in a very nasty situation.
Advocacy is the active support of a specific cause. It also includes the art of persuading others to support the same cause. Advocacy is based on gathering the facts, developing communication, and creation of a timeline with an effective plan. With this in mind citizens are also responsible for helping to solve problems and working for new laws and policies to address problems within their communities. Lastly, advocacy is a very important part in the creating of effective laws to help people.
In this unit we analyze the laws that US citizens are expected to obey and identify the sources of these laws. For example, federal, state and local governments and how these laws impact our daily lives. In many cases legislatures make laws and in some situations citizens can act as lawmakers. Furthermore, administrative agencies and sometimes laws are decided through appeals from specific court rulings. Finally, we will recognize the various ways laws are created in the United States.
The purpose of this unit is to study different aspects of the American Legal system. In our first unit the students will identify laws and values. They will recognize human rights, resolving conflicts, promoting order and stability, and protecting the rights of minorities. Many laws are influenced by moral, economic, political, and social values. Finally we will identify different kinds of laws as well as criminal and civil issues. Lastly, we will study felonies, misdemeanors, defendants, plaintiffs, prosecutor, beyond reasonable doubt, preponderance of the evidence.
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Mr. SchoffstallThis is a class that provide the Consumer Education requirement for graduation. Archives
May 2017
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