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

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.

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

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: 1.What do you know about racism? 2.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… 1.What do you know about how our criminal justice system works? 2.What is the relationship between our criminal justice system and race in the U.S.?

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: 1.Identify any of the main issues (problems) in the story 2.Are there any 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…

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

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

Jena 6 Legal and Social Issues Chart  Re-create the following chart before we start: Facts of the CaseLegal Issue (reasons why) Social Issue (Reasons why)

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…

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… Step 1: Take a quick minute to scan the flow chart so you can get a understanding of what you’re looking at Step 2: Working with your SW partner, try and figure out what process did the Jena 6 individuals go through on this chart Step 3: Now take a look at the social issues and have a conversation about how the social issues may have impacted the legal issues Bringing this out to the floor for final discussion…

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? You are now going to watch a 10 minute lecture from a law class in New Zealand- You are watching for the following ideas: 1.3 criteria (reasons) for making certain behavior a crime 2.4 approaches to fighting crime 3.Changing definitions of crime 4.Media portrayals of crime LAW 121 Criminal Justice System

Wrapping up and next steps…  Take the next 3-4 minutes to answer some reflection questions… 1.What are your general impressions of these situation? 2.Reactions towards our criminal justice system? 3.How does story combine both the social and legal issues? Final debrief of today’s conversation… We are now going to dig deep to find the “ROOTS” of the problems this story demonstrates in our society and our legal system.

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: 1.Is our jail system meant to be “rehab” criminals? OR 2. Is it meant to just remove those “criminals” from society?