1. Unit 3: Race, Rights, & Politics
Session 1: Introduction to Jena 6 Story
Identifying key legal and social issues

2. What we’re doing in this unit…
Looking at the issues presented by the situation that happened in Jena, Louisiana in 2007
Examining the criminal justice system in depth
Examining the Bill of Rights of the Constitution & how they actually play out in the real world
Analyzing the root causes of racism in the U.S. and how it has developed over the last few decades
Examining identity, race, ethnicity, and its relationship to government & politics
Lastly, finding avenues for real democratic change in our society in regards to race, rights, and politics in the U.S.

3. Session 1: Introduction to Jena 6 Story Today we are looking at…
Introducing you to the Jena 6 Story
Identifying the important legal and social issues that the story highlights
Prioritizing those key issues and placing them into categories of importance
Thinking about initial questions we have on the issues

4. Preamble
Before we get into the details of the story that will ANCHOR our unit for the next few weeks...
Take 2 mins to reflect on the following questions:
What do you know about racism?
What has been your experience with racism?
Take 1 min each to share with your SW parnter- Jedis you listen first then talk
Take another 2 mins to reflect on the next set of questions…
What do you know about how our criminal justice system works?
What is the relationship between our criminal justice system and race in the U.S.?

5. Introduction to the Jena 6 Story…
You are going to watch a few minutes of a news story about the situation in Jena, Louisiana from 2007
As you watch, please take note of the following:
Identify any of the main issues (problems) in the story
What are the important details in the story to know?
NBC Jena 6 Story
Take 2 mins to share and check in with your SW partner before we bring this out to the floor…

6. Legal vs. Social Issues…
Do you know the difference between a legal issue and a social issue?
You are going to read a written version of the NBC story and I will be asking you to identify the facts of the story as either a legal issue or a social issue…
Lets practice before we continue…
In the next slide, I will show you a situation… you tell me if its LEGAL or SOCIAL issue

7. The Jena 6 Story- Facts of the Case
You are now going to read a short description of the Jena 6 story
Step 1: Read the description and annotate, highlight, take note of the main facts and details of the case
Step 2: In your SW partners, review the facts of the case to make sure you both understand the facts
Step 3: Go through those facts and label those facts as either a LEGAL or SOCIAL issue
Step 4: We are going to put these on the board and discuss the relationship between the facts and the legal and social issues

8. Jena 6 Legal and Social Issues Chart
Re-create the following chart before we start:
Legal Issue (reasons why)
Social Issue
(Reasons why)

9. Jena 6 Legal and Social Issues Chart
Re-create the following chart before we start:
Legal Issue (reasons why)
Social Issue
(Reasons why)

10. Closing Session 1 Take a half sheet of paper with your name and period
Take the next 4 mins to do the following:
What are your general impressions of the Jena 6 Story
What are three legal OR social issues that stood out to you?
What are your initial questions as we dive deeper in to this story?

11. Session 2: Criminal Justice System
Today we are doing the following:
Examining the criminal justice system in depth
What exactly lands you in the criminal justice system
Analyzing Data from different sources
How society defines criminal behavior
Writing word summary of the session

12. Preamble- What Happens in Court?
Re-create the following chart before we start:
Before a Trial
Steps
During Trial

13. The U.S. Criminal Justice System…
We are now going to take a look at the U.S. Criminal Justice System- It is a very complicated and multi step process. We’ll be looking at two different sources to help you understand how it works…take note of the most important steps in the process
First, is a short video- that describes the process…
Criminal Justice System
Let’s talk about the process, take 2 mins to check in with SW partner…
Bring this out to the floor…

14. How do Americans feel about the criminal justice system?
Here is a recent survey conducted by Harvard University:
A new Study shows nearly half of young Americans believe the US justice system is unfair. 
The Harvard University survey shows that 49 percent of the respondents have little-to-no confidence that the US judicial system can fairly judge people without racial or ethnic bias
Harvard Survey News Story
How well do you trust the justice system to carry out the work fairly?
Let’s take a look at the criminal justice system as a whole:

15. The Criminal Justice System Chart
Now we’re going to place the Jena 6 into the criminal justice system flowchart to figure out what exactly what happened to these 6 individuals… The chart will give you a sense of how complicated the system is: Take the next 3 mins with your SW partner and review the chart as an overview Take the next 2 mins to discuss any questions you have together Bringing out to the floor..

16. What Exactly Lands You in the System?...
How do you know when you have committed a crime? How do you determine what a crime is? Who determines what a crime is?
We are going to analyze 4 elements of defining criminal behavior
3 criteria (reasons) for making certain behavior a crime
4 approaches to defining crime
Changing definitions of crime
Media portrayals of crime

17. Community and Crime
We start first with the idea that we all live in a community
Lennox, Inglewood, Los Angeles, U.S., or the World
We all agree or “consent”- give permission to norms/expectations of behavior
What happens when individuals “break” those norms?
Where the criminal justice system comes in

18. Criteria for Criminalizing Behavior
There are 3 Criteria or Reasons for making behavior criminal
Harm
Offense
Immorality
Each of these have their own complexities and questions to consider:

19. Criteria # 1- Harm
What are some of the questions to consider about harm?
There are 5 different kinds of harm to consider
Social
Material
Physical
Emotional
Reputation
Question and challenge: which one of these categories do we define as criminal?

20. Criteria # 1- Offense How do you define what is offensive?
Something for you to consider:
Men in Ghana and hand holding
Question and challenge:
Who’s definition of offensive do we consider?
Offensive behavior changes over time and place

21. Criteria # 1- Immorality
Who’s morals do we consider and use as measure?
U.S. tradition with Christian church
Something for you to consider:
Homosexual behavior illegal in most states
Question and challenge:
Who’s definition of offensive do we consider?
Offensive behavior changes over time and place

22. How Do We Approach Crime then?
Approach # 1- The Formal Approach
Any act or behavior that is criminalized by the govt in the form of laws
Flaw/Question: How do you determine which acts are criminal?
Approach # 2- The Social Harm Approach
You have 5 different kinds of harm…
Flaw/Question: How do you determine which kind of harm merits protection?

23. How Do We Approach Crime then?
Approach # 3- The Universal Approach
Acts or behavior that anywhere in the world would agree is criminal- best example is what?
Flaw/Question: What about death penalty or killing in times of war?
Approach # 4- The Human Rights Approach
What are some basic human rights that every person deserves?
Flaw/Question: Who pays for these rights for people to have? Does that mean that I should pay for someone else’s healthcare, food, etc?

24. How We Deal with the Approaches
Since all of the approaches are complex and vary…
We must then approach crime using ALL of the approaches in order to design a criminal justice system that works for everyone
Take the next 3 mins to check in with your SW partner to process information so far
I will open the floor for any questions to clarify

25. Changing Definitions of Crime
More Questions to consider:
50 years ago in most states it was illegal to be a “homosexual”
Up until 2013, same sex marriages were illegal
50 years ago it was a crime to sit in front of a bus if you were black, Mexican, or native American in different states
So what has been happening here with crime?
As society changes  so do the definitions of crime
What does that tell you about crime itself?
Hint: Think of evolution

26. Media Portrayals of Crime
Take a look at these pictures and newspaper headlines…
If you saw these, and news coverage on TV- what assumptions/conclusions could you make about crime and murder in that place?
You have to be careful with what and how media portrays crime- it can impact your perception and how you feel about crime

27. So How Do We Fix This? Where is the solution?
You are now going to watch a few minutes from a lecture in a Law Class in New Zealand where the professor begins to break down how and where the solution lies.
Take note of the main points/arguments presented in the lecture
Law 121- New Zealand Law Class
Take 2 mins to review/discuss points made in the lecture with your SW partner
Bring This out to the Floor for final discussion…

28. Summarizing The Nature of Crime…
In words, you are now going to practice the art of summarizing…
Pick ONE of the elements from the lecture and give a summary that best demonstrates your understanding of crime. Below are the elements from lecture as a reminder:
3 criteria (reasons) for making certain behavior a crime
4 approaches to defining crime
Changing definitions of crime
Media portrayals of crime

29. Session 3: The Prison System
Today we are doing the following:
Analyzing the cost of the prison system
Examining the data for who, what, and why are people imprisoned
Watching and analyzing an episode of 30 Days from Morgan Spurlock

30. Something for you to consider…
Manifest Justice- a community art exhibit Los Angeles, May 2015

31. Some more for you to consider…
Take a look at this graph displaying the cost per inmate vs cost per student that each state spends a year
Education vs. Prison Costs CNN Money

32. What happens once you are in the System?
We are going to watch an episode of the series 30 Days, by Morgan Spurlock- creator of Super Size Me- He spends 30 days in jail to ask several questions:
Federal Prison Data Based on Race
Is our jail system meant to be “rehab” criminals? OR
2. Is it meant to just remove those “criminals” from society?

33. Wrapping up and next steps…
Take the next 10 minutes to summarize our conversations so far…
Summarize the main issues in Jena 6
Summarize the main elements of definitions of crimes
3. Summarize the main points addressed in the Jail 30 Days video
We are now going to dig deep to find the “ROOTS” of the problems this story demonstrates in our society and our legal system.