Category: Law

In weeks one through ten, you have a subjective video assignment. Watch this video and post a minimum 100-word response discussing your thoughts and feelings. These videos introduce ideas which may or may not coincide with the weeks learning objective or theme.
    Why do you think this video was chosen to be included in this course?
    For this assignment, you do not need to provide citations or quotes.
    You may write your response in a first-person voice.
    You are strongly encouraged to use the Grammarly app before posting your assignment.

Watch the following video:
Blind pursuit of Equal OUTCOME leads to an “Abomination of Justice” – Jonathan Haidt, Gravitahn, 2016 – https://youtu.be/cQNaT52QYYA

This Weeks Required Reading / Videos
https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/08/22/kings-dream-remains-an-elusive-goal-many-americans-see-racial-disparities/
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/03/22/gender-pay-gap-facts/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/soccer-is-a-poor-arena-to-fight-out-the-issue-of-equal-pay/2019/07/09/8242cc6c-a28d-11e9-bd56-eac6bb02d01d_story.html?noredirect=on
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/still-the-land-of-opportunity/
https://youtu.be/wyDLr8Svoio

In our course this week, we continued our exploration of equality of opportunity. Today more Americans, including women, POC, and members of the LBGTQ community, have greater freedom to exercise their rights than at any time in modern history. At the same time, Americans are increasingly sharing their fear that the American Dream has left them behind. As we have learned from our readings, we are equal in our rights but not necessarily equal in any other ways, including athleticism, intelligence, genetic advantages, family structure, economics, or historical privilege.

For your journal entry this week, discuss an example in your life, whether at work, home, school, or during a time of relaxation when you victoriously exercised equality of opportunity and achieved a significant personal or moral victory.

Operational Assignment Details:
This assignment is due on Sunday at 10 p.m. CST. Your substantive comments are due the following Tuesday at 10 p.m. CST. Each journal entry should be a minimum of 300 words. Your journal entry narrative is subjective and can be written in the first person. Citations are not required, but the inclusion of the assigned reading articles is strongly encouraged. Be sure to proofread your entry and use the Grammarly app before posting. Please keep in mind that others will be reading your journal.

This Weeks Required Reading / Videos
https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/08/22/kings-dream-remains-an-elusive-goal-many-americans-see-racial-disparities/
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/03/22/gender-pay-gap-facts/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/soccer-is-a-poor-arena-to-fight-out-the-issue-of-equal-pay/2019/07/09/8242cc6c-a28d-11e9-bd56-eac6bb02d01d_story.html?noredirect=on
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/still-the-land-of-opportunity/
https://youtu.be/wyDLr8Svoio

As an investigator with the Federal Public Defenders Office, you are assisting Assistant Federal Defender Lilly Jones with gathering background information on offender Ben Smith, who pled guilty to distribution of a controlled substance (5 kilograms of cocaine). Mr. Smith is being sentenced next month.

In a 23-page paper, provide an overview of the following:

What sentence is required in this case based on the federal sentencing guidelines?
Why were the federal sentencing guidelines developed, and what is their purpose?
In your opinion, do the guidelines allow judges enough discretion when imposing a sentence in this type of case?
Should judges have more or less discretion when it comes to sentencing?
What are the 3 most important things Ms. Jones should tell the judge at sentencing about Mr. Smith to aid in sentencing?

You have been asked to serve on a special citizen committee designed to provide lawmakers with feedback on the legalization of victimless crimes. You are specifically asked whether or not you think these types of crimes should be legalized. What is your answer? How would you justify your answer?

Refer back to the two reading assignments for this unit. Then, write an essay that addresses the areas listed below.

Part 1:

Summarize the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in both of the cases that are excerpted in the handout. In a few words, explain why the court in R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul overturned the decision of the Minnesota Supreme Court. Explain why the court upheld the Virginia statute in Virginia v. Black.

In Virginia v. Black, what did the court mean when it held that “just as any state may regulate only that obscenity which is the most obscene due to its prurient content, so too may a state choose to prohibit only those forms of intimidation that are most likely to inspire fear of bodily harm”?

Part 2:

Do you agree that the statute in question applies to computer-generated and computer-transmitted information?

Should the government be required to present expert witnesses to establish that the material in question is obscene? Is this a question that a jury can decide on its own? How are jury members aware of “community standards”?

If the community standards are different in Milpitas, California, from those of Memphis, Tennessee, why should the defendants be held accountable for the standards in Memphis and not those in the location where the material was transmitted?

Are you satisfied with the test for obscenity? In what manner, if any, would you change the standard?

Your essay will be a minimum of two pages in length, not counting the title and reference pages. Your essay should contain a clear introduction and be well-organized.

You are required to use at least two resources to support your essay. All resources used  must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations. Your essay, including all references, will be formatted in APA style.

Define larceny and embezzlement. Are both of these crimes considered theft? Why or why not? What are the differences between larceny and embezzlement? Why are the differences important?

Your essay response must be a minimum of 200 words, not counting any repetition of the question.

What is computer crime? What are examples of this type of crime? Provide a short description of one of the early cases of computer crime. Explain at least two federal statutes which are relevant to crimes committed with or against computer equipment. Describe the four elements of computer tampering.

identify current prevention and treatment strategies used to address juvenile delinquency.

In the context of juvenile delinquency, treatment and prevention take on two different meanings. Treatment is reactive in nature, providing remedies for issues and conditions already present. Prevention, on the other hand, is proactive in nature, concentrating on eliminating or reducing the commission of certain conduct or the presence of certain situations.

Create an eight slide PowerPoint presentation which lists current prevention and treatment strategies. Include the following in your presentation:

List two current prevention strategies.
Discuss how effective each prevention strategy is in successfully rehabilitating the juvenile delinquent.
List two current treatment strategies.
Discuss how effective each treatment strategy is in successfully rehabilitating the juvenile delinquent.
Provide case studies/examples of each. 
Use at least two credible sources and discuss how you evaluated the credibility of the resources used.

The PowerPoint presentation should have the following characteristics.

Contains a title slide, introduction slide and references slide (these do not count in the eight slide requirement).
Bullets for your main points.
Pictures to support your presentation where applicable.
Research from at least two reliable sources to support the main message, including graphics.

Properly cite all sources of information by including in-text citations and a list of
references.
Research and visuals are cited in APA citation format, both in-text and on a References slide. You need to quote material taken directly from a source.

Note on Primary Assignments:
Each week you will submit a Primary Assignment. In many weeks, you can choose between two options for this assignment. Before you opt for which assignment option to answer, you will want to consider which option affords you the best opportunity to demonstrate learning based upon the assigned course materials. All Primary Assignments include a thesis statement, a bibliography (APA style), and the use and citation of three assigned reading articles from the current week and one assigned reading article from a previous week.

Equality of Opportunity

Learning Objective: The Declaration of Independence and the idea that equality is the bedrock of a republic are examined. Please recall that the Declaration of Independence was an assigned reading article in Week One.

Option 1: Write Your Opinion Editorial:
Listed below are two opinion editorial news articles (op-eds). Write an op-ed to respond to the ideas expressed in the articles by Williams or Zarracina. Present a persuasive argument in which you agree or disagree with the author. Your op-ed can be written in the first person and include anecdotal evidence. While the opinion may be your own, construct a persuasive argument using the assigned course reading materials, including the Declaration of Independence, to support your position. Define and anchor your thoughts within the context of equality of opportunity.
    Walter E. Williams: America’s founders and the slavery debate, Omaha World Herald, 2019
    The case against equality of opportunity, Dylan Matthews, Vox, 2015

OR

Option 2: On the Job!
For this assignment, examine and discuss an incident at work in which the (lack of) equality of opportunity was evident. Be sure to define the term equality of opportunity in your assignment. Your assignment can be written in the first person and include anecdotal evidence. While the perspective may be your own, construct a persuasive argument using the assigned course reading materials, including the Declaration of Independence, to support your position. Define and anchor your thoughts within the context of equality of opportunity.

This Weeks Required Reading / Videos
https://archive.org/details/JusticeWhatIsTheRightThingToDoByMichaelSandel/page/n43
https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/184/a-lincoln-anthology/4822/the-gettysburg-address/
https://the-eye.eu/public/concen.org/UChicagoPress.Ebook.Pack-2016-PHC/9780226264219.UChicago%20Press.Capitalism%20and%20Freedom.Milton%20Friedman.Nov%2C2002.pdf
https://www.vox.com/2015/9/21/9334215/equality-of-opportunity
https://evonomics.com/people-dont-actually-want-equality-want-fairness/
https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/sjsj/vol1/iss1/7/
https://mises-media.s3.amazonaws.com/I%20Pencil.pdf
https://mises.org/library/i-pencil-1
https://youtu.be/VcL66zx_6No

Previous Week Required Reading / Videos
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/the-coddling-of-the-american-mind/399356/
http://content.bellevue.edu/cas/la/400-410-420/id/kss/the-pursuit-of-truth.pdf
https://www.archives.gov/files/press/exhibits/dream-speech.pdf
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/07/why-its-a-bad-idea-to-tell-students-words-are-violence/533970/
https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/04/the-harm-in-free-speech/