1. Imagining you are starting a new colony in space, decide with your partner a list of human rights you think all in your colony should have:
List the three most important human rights that you believe should be guaranteed.
Explain your reasoning

2. Find a group near by, share and compare your list.
As a new, larger group discuss the differences in your list.
Which are more important, why similar and why different.
Do you think any of the rights conflict with each other?
Are all rights legal?
In your new group select a top 4 from your combined list of 6.

3. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Many countries have more serious human rights violations than the United States…
When people say human rights violations they primarily refer to the wrongs committed in other countries, however…
Human rights applies to every person in every country…

4. Assume the following has take place in the U. S
Assume the following has take place in the U.S. Decide if it is a human rights violation:
Before class starts, the teacher says, “You can’t pray in school”
A child goes to sleep hungry because the parents have no money for food.
A student receives a poor education in her high school and is rejected for every job for which she applies.
A man is stopped before boarding an airplane and stripped searched because he has an Arab-sounding name and a stamp on a passport indicating he has been to Iraq in the past year

5. An Arabic-speaking student speaks Arabic to another student
An Arabic-speaking student speaks Arabic to another student. The principal tells the students only English may be spoken in school.
A woman is ill and is turned away from a hospital because she does not have health insurance or the money to pay her medical bill.
A homeless man asks for money from people passing by, but people do not give him money.
A Muslim high school girl wears a hijab (head scarf) to school. The teacher tells her to remove it during class, as there is a rule against hats and head coverings in school.

6. Matt and Kenji decide to skip school
Matt and Kenji decide to skip school. They take Kenji’s brother’s car without telling him and drive to a local shopping center. Ignoring the sign “Parking for Handicapped Persons Only” they leave the car and enter an electronics store. After looking around, they buy an iPod. Then they buy sandwiches and go to the park. While eating they discover the iPod does not work. In their hurry to return it, they leave their trash on the ground.
When they get back to the car they notice there is a large dent in the side of the car. The dent appears to be the result of a driver’s carelessness in backing out. They also notice that the car has been broken into and the stereo removed. They call the police to report the accident and theft. When the police arrive they seize a small, clear bag containing illegal drugs from the back seat. Matt and Kenji are arrested.

7. List all the things you think Matt and Kenji did wrong
What laws are involved in this story?
Which of these are criminal? Which are civil laws?

8. Catherine “Kitty” Genovese was attacked and stabbed to death in 1964 in a highly populated are of Queens, New York. During the half-hour ordeal, 38 people heard Kitty’s screams for help and watched from their windows. Twice the killer was scared off by the sound of voices and the realization that he was being watched. However, both times, when it became obvious that nobody was going to call the police, the killer returned to finish off his victim. Rather than give any aid to Kitty, such as calling the police or an ambulance, 38 bystanders chose to pull their shades, draw their blinds, and ignore Kitty’s urgent pleas for help as her life was taken by a deranged attacker.

9. Why do you think the bystanders took no action?
Did the bystanders commit a crime by not acting?
Why or why not?
Did the bystanders do the right thing?
Should the law hold citizens responsible for not helping out in cases such as this one?

10. Decide whether each of the following laws is federal, state and/or local…
No parking on the east side of Main Street between 4:00pm and 6:00pm
All persons between the ages of 6 and 16 must attend school.
Whoever enters a bank for purposes of taking by force or violence the property or money in custody of such bank shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than 20 years or both.

11. Decide whether each of the following laws is federal, state and/or local…
In order to sell any product on public streets, the seller must first apply for and receive a vendor’s permit.
No employer of more than 15 persons may discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
All persons traveling on interstate airline carriers are subject to search before entering the airplane departure area.

12. The city of Parkland established a lovely park in the city
The city of Parkland established a lovely park in the city. City council wishes to preserve some elements of nature, undisturbed by the city noise, traffic, pollution and crowding. The park is a place where people can go and find grass, trees, flowers and quiet. In addition there are playgrounds and picnic areas, and at
one time a road ran through the park. Now the park is closed. The city council has enacted a law requiring that at all the entrances to the park, the following sign is to be posted: NO VEHICLES IN THE PARK

13. The law is clear, but some disputes have come up over how to interpret it… Interpret the law for each of the following…
Tony lives on one side of the city and works on the other. He wants to save time by driving though the park.
To keep the park clean, trash cans are located throughout the area. The sanitation department wants to drive a truck into the park to collect trash from the cans.
An ambulance is racing to the hospital with a dying patient and the shortest route is through the park.
The police are chasing a bank robber. If one police car cuts through the park, it can get in front of the suspect and trap him.
Andy had both legs amputated and uses an electric wheelchair. He wants to visit the park.

14. Drafting a law Groups of 2-3
Decide at what level your law is going to take effect: school, city, state, federal
What is your law going to say?
Cell phones
Leaving school for lunch
Driving age
Voting, etc
Have at least 2 choices

15. Writing your law…
Once you have your #1 choice and know what you are working on…
Draft your law, include as many details as possible.
Who is it going to effect?
Who needs to pass your law? (school board, state, federal)
How are you going to have it passed (Congress only, voters decide)
What needs to change for your law to take effect?
Are there any exceptions to your law?

16. Pick one… (no repeats)
Require that any teenage driver with less than 1-year of experience as a licensed driver, drive only during daylight hours and never with more than one other teen passenger (except siblings)
Establish a curfew of 12am for anyone under 18 from Sunday through Thursday and 1am on Friday or Saturday. (except going to or from work or when traveling with a parent/guardian)
Law requiring everyone under the age of 18 to wear a helmet while riding a bike on public property.
Law requiring a one-week waiting period on a background check for anyone wanting to buy a handgun.

17. Questions for discussion and research
Predict the outcome if your community held a voter referendum on the proposed law.
Referendum: a procedure in which issues are voted on directly by the citizens.
What arguments could be presented for and against the proposed law?
What groups, organizations or businesses are likely to lobby for or against the proposed law?
What techniques could they use to influence legislators?

18. Methods for settling dispute
Go back into your notes:
Find: negotiation
Arbitration
Mediation
Court action (criminal or civil)

19. On a sheet of paper divide it into columns:
What do you know
What don’t you know
Questions:
Settling disputes
What I know
What I don’t know
Questions
Negotiation
Mediation
Arbitration
Court Action
Do you have enough information to answer questions about each?
Be prepared to answer questions using the back of your paper.

20. What sort of dispute resolution is needed for each?
Two sisters share a room. However they disagree over how the room should be arranged and decorated.
A new stereo breaks after two weeks, and the salesperson refuses to fix it.
A landlord will not make needed repairs because he believes the tenant caused the damage.
A labor union and an employer disagree over the wages and conditions of employment.
A married couple wants a divorce.
The IRS (Internal Revenue Service) sends you a letter claiming you owe an additional $200. You disagree.
Carl invites Raquel to the prom, and she agrees to go with him. Then Miquel invites her to the prom. Raquel really wants to go with Miquel and accepts his invitation. Carl finds out about her decision after has purchased flowers and paid for a limousine to take them to the prom.

21. Why is non-violent dispute resolution important?
Think
Write your answer on a sticky…
Be ready to mix-pair-share
Get up
Silently greet others until I say stop
Find a partner and stand back-to-back
The person with the earliest birthday shares first (Jan 30 would share before June 20)
Wait until everyone is ready
Find a 2 new partners (forming a group of 4) and share what your partner said with the group.

22. How is voting a part of the legal process?
Think….
Be prepared to Mix-Pair-Share

23. Should voting be optional
Should voting be optional? Think carefully about each of the following and provide support for your answer…
Levy a $20 fine on a person who is eligible to vote but does not and does not have a good excuse.
Allow a person to register to vote and vote on the same day.
Lowering the voting age to 16 so that students in high school could vote.
Keeping the polls open for a week rather than one day.
Reducing people’s taxes by $10 if they vote.
Automatically registering everyone with a driver’s license.

24. Make sure you have your notes
By end of the day Thursday I would like to see your notes that you have taken since class started…

25. Think about the participants in a civil trial….
We are going to do a mock civil trial
Write your 1st and 2nd choice (in order) on a sticky