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Free Lesson Plans for Teachers
Alpha Stage
In the Criminal Justice  System
March 13, 2007
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After deciding to title today's newsletter after Law & Order I ran
across an article entitled, "Struggling 'Law & Order' Faces
Uncertain Future," by chance.

The Washington Post is running an article entitled, "(Attorney)
Firings had Genesis in White House."

The article begins, "The White House suggested two years ago
that the Justice Department fire all 93 U.S. attorneys, a proposal
that eventually resulted in the dismissals of eight prosecutors last
year, according to e-mails and internal documents that the
administration will provide to Congress today."

According to the article, the White House might have been
concerned that U.S. Attorneys had not prosecuted alleged voter
fraud that many Republicans thought favored Democrats.

Read the Article!!


Discussion-Starters for Younger Children

  • Ask your students what they think it means to be a boss.
    When your students work on an art project do they like
    making some of their own decisions about what the
    project should look like? Why/why not? Should bosses tell
    people who work for them exactly what to do or should
    they allow the people to make some of their own
    decisions? Why?
  • Invite students to develop skits, in groups of three
    or four, pretending that they work at a local store.
    How would the boss interact with his/her workers?

  • Ask your students if they think that different people in
    their house have different types of jobs at home. Are there
    some things that Mom does, other things that Dad does
    and still other things that the child(ren) do? What are
    some of these things?
  • Consider asking students to draw pictures of the
    different types of things that different people in
    their family do to make their home run smoothly.

  • Do your students think that adults can do whatever they
    want or are there some things that even adults can't do?
    What kinds of things can't adults do?
  • In groups of two or three, ask students to compile
    a list of things that adults cannot do. After students
    brainstorm together, create one class list.

  • Ask your students if there are some things that they
    should not have to be told to either do or not to do? What
    types of things don't they have to be told to do? What
    types of things don't they have to be told not to do? Why
    don't they have to be told these things?
  • Consider asking students to respond to this prompt
    with simple sentences: Nobody has to tell me to:

Discussion-Starters for Older Students

  • Vocabulary terms to discuss: Prosecutor; Energetically;
    Intimidation; and, Mitigating.

  • What is a primary source? Why might it be advantageous
    to a newspaper to use primary sources to support
    statements made by reporters? Since this newspaper
    article uses primary sources to support its points, is it fair
    to state that it must be completely factual? Why/why not?
  • Consider asking students to make an argument
    about something. In order to support their
    argument, tell them to use a primary source.

  • According to the article, United States district attorneys
    serve at the pleasure of the President. What does this
    mean? Should the President expect individuals whom he
    appoints to not only fulfill the technical responsibilities of
    their job requirements but also support the President's
    political agenda? Why/why not? For whom does a United
    States district attorney work? For whom does the Vice
    President of the United States work?
  • These questions might prompt an interesting class
    discussion. Be sure students understand what it
    means to serve "at the pleasure of the President."

  • Pose: If you were a United States district attorney who
    had been fired even though you had received positive
    evaluations throughout your tenure, how would you
    respond? Why would you respond this way? What
    positive outcomes might come from this response? What
    negative outcomes might come from this response? Why?
  • In groups of two or three, ask students to imagine
    that they are the district attorney and his/her own
    lawyers. Together they should develop a plan of
    action after the firing.
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