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fandomhigh2010-01-05 04:22 am
glasses-justice.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2010-01-05 04:22 am
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Concepts of Justice and The Law [Period 4, Class #1, Jan 5]
At the start of class, there was a tall blonde woman leaning against the teacher's desk. She was wearing a business suit, and amusing herself by idly flicking through a file she had brought with her. When the clock struck 1, she cleared her throat and began.
"Welcome to Concepts of Justice and the Law," she said, tossing the file onto the desk. "If that's not the class you signed up for, you're in the wrong room. My name is Alexandra Cabot, and you can call me Alex. I'm an assistant district attorney for the state of New York. If those words don't mean anything to you, fear not, all will be explained.
"The dictionary would tell you that 'justice' means righteousness, moral principles determining conduct, and the maintenance or administration therein. Essentially, justice is about fairness. For the purposes of this class, justice refers to the process of ensuring that laws are upheld and order is maintained.
"Society needs rules. One might be, 'don't shoot your neighbor in the face and steal his stereo.' Otherwise, everyone with a nice stereo would sleep with one eye glued open. So when someone breaks the law, society has to apply consequences. In the American system, police officers arrest a suspect, who then receives a trial. The prosecutor -- someone such as myself -- makes the case, while the defense argues the suspect's innocence. The judge makes sure everyone plays fair, and then a jury of twelve average citizens decides his fate.
"That's the crash-course, for any of you who aren't from the United States. You certainly don't have to be, and I'll admit, I'm hoping we have a good mixture of backgrounds for this class. My goal is for us to talk about some of these basic cornerstones of law and justice. What should be illegal? How should morality and the law intersect, if they're going to do so? How should laws be enforced? What rules should we set down, and how, then, do we apply those black-and-white rules to a reality that's a million shades of gray? I want us to argue, I want us to disagree, and I want us all to re-think the way we look at some of the rules we take for granted."
"Before we start, there are two important matters to get out of the way. First: this class could get messy. I'm all right with that. Conversations can get heated, tempers might flare. Personal attacks, however, will get you detention, so keep it civil. Secondly: this class might hit some sensitive issues. I mentioned before that I was a prosecutor: my cases were sexually-based offenses, such as rape, rape-homicide, and child molestation. It's not a pretty job, but someone has to speak for the victims, so I do. If you want to discuss the uglier side of human nature in this room, feel free to do so. If something in class makes you uncomfortable, you may leave, without further explanation."
"But, before I get ahead of myself." She pointed to a random student. "Introductions. Tell me your name, why you picked this class, and what law enforcement and justice is like where you're from."
"Welcome to Concepts of Justice and the Law," she said, tossing the file onto the desk. "If that's not the class you signed up for, you're in the wrong room. My name is Alexandra Cabot, and you can call me Alex. I'm an assistant district attorney for the state of New York. If those words don't mean anything to you, fear not, all will be explained.
"The dictionary would tell you that 'justice' means righteousness, moral principles determining conduct, and the maintenance or administration therein. Essentially, justice is about fairness. For the purposes of this class, justice refers to the process of ensuring that laws are upheld and order is maintained.
"Society needs rules. One might be, 'don't shoot your neighbor in the face and steal his stereo.' Otherwise, everyone with a nice stereo would sleep with one eye glued open. So when someone breaks the law, society has to apply consequences. In the American system, police officers arrest a suspect, who then receives a trial. The prosecutor -- someone such as myself -- makes the case, while the defense argues the suspect's innocence. The judge makes sure everyone plays fair, and then a jury of twelve average citizens decides his fate.
"That's the crash-course, for any of you who aren't from the United States. You certainly don't have to be, and I'll admit, I'm hoping we have a good mixture of backgrounds for this class. My goal is for us to talk about some of these basic cornerstones of law and justice. What should be illegal? How should morality and the law intersect, if they're going to do so? How should laws be enforced? What rules should we set down, and how, then, do we apply those black-and-white rules to a reality that's a million shades of gray? I want us to argue, I want us to disagree, and I want us all to re-think the way we look at some of the rules we take for granted."
"Before we start, there are two important matters to get out of the way. First: this class could get messy. I'm all right with that. Conversations can get heated, tempers might flare. Personal attacks, however, will get you detention, so keep it civil. Secondly: this class might hit some sensitive issues. I mentioned before that I was a prosecutor: my cases were sexually-based offenses, such as rape, rape-homicide, and child molestation. It's not a pretty job, but someone has to speak for the victims, so I do. If you want to discuss the uglier side of human nature in this room, feel free to do so. If something in class makes you uncomfortable, you may leave, without further explanation."
"But, before I get ahead of myself." She pointed to a random student. "Introductions. Tell me your name, why you picked this class, and what law enforcement and justice is like where you're from."
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