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California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Soka University Japan - Transcend Art and Peace
Created: July 27, 2003
Latest Update: November 8, 2007
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

CRMJ/SOCA 359 Law and Society

You will be held accountable for the readings and discussion questions listed here. There will be no "testing." That means that you will not have to live in anxious anticipation of what we will ask and how much you will have to know. Instead, we will provide weekly discussion questions, lectures, essays, and concepts we feel that you should know as a result of having taken this course. You will assure us of that learning and receive your grade for the questions and concepts about which you choose to write and talk with us. In addition you will find detailed explanations and examples on our grading policies in the first week's reading.

* * * * *

Week 12: Week of November 18, 2007

Topic: The Jury

Preparatory Readings

• Bonsignore . Before the Law. Chapters 14, 15, and 16.
  
• Bellow and Minow. Law Stories. Weaver.
• Documentary, "Inside the Jury Room" to be shown in class.
• Curran and Takata. Sociology of Law Handbook. Chapter 1 & 2 (see links below)
  -- Introduction
  -- Chapter 1, part 1
  -- Chapter 1, part 2
  -- Chapter 2
  
  

Lecture related links:



• Index on Structural Violence
• Metaphor and Theory links to "The Blind Men and the Elephant." Eric K. mentioned this metaphor when we were discussing several concepts relating to our class.
• "Who's Habermas? Why Habermas?"
• W.I. Thomas "Definition of the Situation
  
  
• Those Infamous Grades and Letters of Recommendation
• "The Case Against Gold Stars" by Alfie Kohn.

Concepts to be covered:



• Duncan v. Louisiana
• Blakely v. Washington
• jury nullification
• peremptory challenges
• jury selection
• Batson v. Kentucky
• Miller-El v. Cockrell



Discussion Questions:

Note: Incorporate this week's readings and the documentary, "Inside the Jury Room" into your answers to the discussion questions below.

1. How does Weaver's "Daily Log of Independent Fieldwork" relate to structural violence? Why.
2. Relating to the documentary, "Inside the Jury Room," and this week's Bonsignore readings, who motivates a jury to nullify the law? [Bonsignore, p. 432]
3. .... Does either the King or the Simpson verdict change your view of whether judges should inform jurors of their power of nullification? [Bonsignore, p. 433. Read the entire question in your text]
4. What can we learn [from this story] about the importance of having a jury of peers? [Bonsignore, p. 468] Relate this to this week's Bonsignore readings.



Suggested Creative Measures/Visual Projects:




Note: Start thinking about ideas for your creative measures. Must relate to "law and society" Must be approved before starting your creative measure. Cannot be something that you are doing or have done for another course. Research cannot be 100% online (i.e., google, askjeeves). Must conduct library research using scholarly works, (not the popular press -- Time Magazine, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated). A bibliography must be attached to your visual presentation. No term papers! Allow time to dialogue and present your creative measure in class. Email me your ideas ASAP.



• Make an explosion box , and decorate it to reflect an issue relating to the jury..
• Select a controversial issue focusing on the jury:
  -- jury selection
  -- jury of one's peers
  -- peremptory challenges
  -- jury nullification
  
• Visit the county court house. Observe "law in action."
• View a movie (old and new) that depicts the jury. How realistic are these portrayals? Why.
• Come up with your own "law story".



Recommended Readings:

--- Paula DiPerna. Juries on Trial.
--- Alan Dershowitz. The Best Defense.
--- Steve Bogira. Courtroom 302: A Year Behind the Scenes in an American Courthouse.
--- Deborah L. Rhode. Access to Justice.
--- Mark Weiner. Black Trials.
--- Dan T. Carter. Scottsboro: A Tragedy of the American South.
--- Anthony Lewis. Gideon's Trumpet.
--- Harriet Ziskin. The Blind Eagle.
--- Jonathan Casper. Criminal Courts: The Defendant's Perspective.
--- Samuel Walker. Taming the System: The Control of Discretion in the Criminal Justice System.
--- Kenneth Culp Davis. Discretionary Justice.
--- James P. Levine. Juries and Politics.

--- Jurgen Habermas. Between Facts and Norms.
--- Martha Minow. Making All the Difference: Exclusion, Inclusion and American Law. Check out this link Martha Minow on the Dear Habermas site.

Course Syllabus for CRMJ/SOCA 359 "Law and Society"

takata@uwp.edu