Concepts of Justice and The Law [Period 4, Class #7, Feb 16]

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

"Today," Alex said, "I have good news, and not-so-good news. The bad news out of the way first: today you'll be having a midterm exam."

"The good news is: you may use any of the notes you've taken in class so far. You may use any resource you've brought in with you, for that matter, so long as you do not ask for help from your classmates. No talking to your neighbors, no passing notes, and absolutely no collaborating on answers." She stopped there to look around the room and be sure that the students knew she was taking that point seriously. "Back on the good news side: this is not a hard exam. I'm not asking you to define terms -- any of the terms I use, I defined myself. The point of this class isn't whether or not you can correctly tell me what 'mens rea' is -- it's whether or not you understand how to apply it."

Alex tapped the stack of papers on her desk. "So these questions are largely asking you to come up with arguments on certain topics -- the ones we've covered thus far in the semester. Give a reason for it, and then, since the legal system exists in gray areas, give a reason against it. Find one example that fits, and another that doesn't. I'm not going to grade these harshly. I want to see if we're all on the same page, or if I need to back up and recover some old ground."

"When you're finished, you can stay, or you can leave, but do not talk to your classmates, even if you've both completed your exams. It might distract those who are still taking it. Any questions?"

If there weren't any, then Alex was going to start passing out their tests.

Comments

Sign In - JST07

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

Oh shit! Midterm!

Re: Sign In - JST07

[therewaslife]

Nobody Owens

Re: Sign In - JST07

[bamf-tastic.livejournal.com]

Kurt Wagner

During the Lecture - JST07

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

Panic. Flail. Raise your hand and ask any last-minute questions you might have.

Re: During the Lecture - JST07

[therewaslife]

A midterm didn't send Bod into a panic but he did find himself trying to push everything else out of his mind so he could focus on just this subject and everything he'd learned so far.

Re: During the Lecture - JST07

[bamf-tastic.livejournal.com]

Kurt panicked. "A midterm? ALREADY??!?!"

Re: During the Lecture - JST07

[rocksthescarf.livejournal.com]

Chuck was tired from working all night and was in no way ready to take a test. He slid down in his seat and told himself that he didn't really need to graduate anyway.

Re: During the Lecture - JST07

[joan-notjane.livejournal.com]

Joan wished she had realized there was an exam today she would have studied.

Probably.

Maybe.

Okay, probably not.

Re: During the Lecture - JST07

[heromaniac]

...

Midterm Exam - JST07

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

The test Alex hands out only has five questions on it, with ample space after each for a paragraph or two of writing, should you decide to do that much.

(This is where the sub-questions are going to go: I felt like nesting the OCD. As always, handwaving is totally fine.)

Question 1: Mens Rea and Intent - JST07

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

Mens Rea means the ability to knowingly and intentionally commit a crime. List one reason why a person might be found to be not responsible for a crime because of mens rea.

Re: Question 1: Mens Rea and Intent - JST07

[therewaslife]

Bod didn't think he remembered everything they'd learned and, despite the notes, found himself still thinking more before he started writing.

If a person is of diminished mental capacity, it might be something to take into account despite said person committing a crime. Depending on the severity of the disability, they might not have known any better."

Re: Question 1: Mens Rea and Intent - JST07

[momslilassassin]

Ben's answer talked about diminished mental faculties and then went onto a wee tangent about whether "possession by the Dark Side" would possibly be considered a justifiable defense back home.

Question 2: The Adversarial System - JST07

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

A defense attorney realizes that her client is guilty, and unrepentant. As a result, she knowingly cripples her own case in court, to ensure that he receives the maximum penalty. Under the adversarial system, which grants each side an attorney to argue his or her case, why is this considered inappropriate? List at least one reason.

Question 3: The Harm Principle (Victimless Crimes) - JST07

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

The harm principle says the state should only prosecute crimes where one person is directly and clearly hurting another. The offense principle says that society can and should make rules to protect offenders from themselves, or for the good of society as a whole. List one crime that violates the harm principle, and one that would instead violate the offense principle.

(Note: the latter are sometimes referred to as victimless crimes, a term which also came up during our discussion.)

Question 4: Case Study: Double Jeopardy

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

A man has been having consensual sex with girls who are considered too young to give informed consent. Worse, he has a sexually transmitted disease, one which is both untreatable and ultimately fatal. He serves his time and is released, but he is a repeat offender, at high risk to infect (and therefore, kill) more teenagers. The state wishes to protect its citizens by re-arresting him, but his lawyer states this violates double jeopardy, which is a citizen's right not to be tried for the same crime twice.

Give one argument for each side.

Question 5: Case Study - Capital Punishment

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

A serial killer lives in the United States, a country which practices capital punishment. When pursued by police, he crosses the border illegally to enter Canada, a nearby country which does not support the death penalty. Canada has stated that it will not extradite (send a criminal back to his or her home country) unless the home country agrees not to seek the death penalty. The man confesses to his crimes -- murder and torture among them -- but asks Canada to grant him sanctuary, and not release him to the US.

Give one argument for each side.

During the Exam: Talk to Alex - JST07

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

This thread is here in case you need to ask Alex for clarification on any of the questions, or anything like that. You're totally free to pester her with "um, you mean X, right?"

After the Exam: Talk to the TAs - JST07

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

During the exam, they're as off-limits as the rest of your classmates, sorry. But after class ends, you can talk to them freely.

Re: After the Exam: Talk to the TAs - JST07

[bamf-tastic.livejournal.com]

Kurt nervously went over the questions again in his head and hoped his answers were good enough.

Re: After the Exam: Talk to the TAs - JST07

[glacial_queen]

Karla was really, really grateful this was an open-note test. Being gone for three months made the lessons more than a little hazy.

After the Exam: Talk to Alex - JST07

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

Flail, panic, ask her to not count your grade, or just chit-chat.

Re: After the Exam: Talk to Alex - JST07

[endsthegame]

"Miss Cabot?" Ender prompted, once his own test was done and turned in. "I'd like to apologise for my absence last week."

Re: After the Exam: Talk to Alex - JST07

[momslilassassin]

Ben waited until Ender had left to make own excuses for missing class. "I was trying to track Ender down," he said with an apologetic smile.

OOC - JST07

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

I just wanted an excuse to us this icon. Mmm, Alex's legs.

Oh, also! The case studies are taken from two SVU cases during Alex's tenure. Double jeopardy is "Rooftops," S3E4, and capital punishment is "Manhunt," S2E18.