Have you ever wondered what steps take place as people as they move through the court system? The criminal justice system is a very complex field that requires dedicated people willing to pursue equal justice for all. Explore different career choices and how the juvenile justice system, the correctional system, and the trial process all work together to maintain social order. LAW110-PBL Careers in Criminal Justice 1 is taught in a project-based learning format.

Course Outline

Project 1: Toward a More Just World

After assessing the need for community services in their area, students will play the role of a criminal justice professional who aspires to meet a need in their community, criminal rehabilitation. Students will explore all career opportunities in criminal justice as they attempt to staff the facility and manage the relationship with local law enforcement agencies.

Project Objectives

General

· Compare and contrast traditional criminal justice and community justice models.

· Learn about the personal skills and traits required for all careers in criminal justice.

· Describe the duties, requirements, and responsibilities of a variety of careers in criminal justice.

· Explain the correctional system in the United States.

Success Skills

· Identify positive work qualities typically desired in each of the career cluster’s pathways.

· Create ideas, proposals, and solutions to problems.

Benchmark 1: Community Justice

· Plan solutions for situations that require crisis management and conflict resolution.

· Identify the interpersonal skills, work habits, and ethics necessary for ongoing employment in an environment of human diversity.

Benchmark 2: Criminal Justice Professions

· Identify and describe career opportunities in the criminal justice system.

· Examine the job duties and skills needed to excel in specific roles.

· Consider the prerequisites for job entry into the criminal justice system.

· Explore the salary expectations for entry-level positions in the criminal justice system.

Benchmark 3: Is a Criminal Justice Career Right for Me?

· Recognize personal traits that help one succeed in the criminal justice field.

· Apply strategies for working well with others.

· Consider personal stressors and evaluate methods for resolution.

· Identify the interpersonal skills, work habits, and ethics necessary for ongoing employment in an environment of human diversity.

· Plan solutions for situations that require crisis management and conflict resolution.

Benchmark 4: Punishment or Rehabilitation?

· Differentiate between local, state, and federal correctional systems.

· Compare and contrast different types of prison and community-based programs.

· Identify major correctional operations procedures and programs.

Benchmark 5: The Rights of the People

· Debate issues concerning the rights of inmates.

· Understand correctional reform and the responsibilities of correctional officers.

Project 2: An Eye for an Eye?

Through the lens of the Fate Vincent Winslow case of the 1980s, students will work as a criminal justice reform advocate and write an editorial for the local newspaper arguing for a reform of drug laws. The advocate bases their argument on the disconnect between harsh sentences for relatively minor drug offenses.

Project Objectives

General

· Summarize the history of criminal justice.

· Explain the laws, punishments, and rights that make up the U.S. system of criminal justice.

· Discuss the effectiveness and fairness of our criminal punishments.

Success Skills

· Organize information to use in written and oral communications.

· Compose multi-paragraph documents clearly, succinctly, and accurately.

Benchmark 1: The Evolution of Crime and Punishment

· Understand the factors that influenced crime and punishment in nomadic tribes and early agrarian civilizations.

· Compare ancient Roman law and punishment to our current criminal justice system.

· Discuss legal documents from early American colonial history.

· Detail early American prison reform efforts.

Benchmark 2: All Rights Reserved

· Discuss rights granted by various constitutional amendments.

· Identify characteristics of criminal and civil law.

Benchmark 3: Legislating Crime

· Clarify elements and classifications of crimes.

· Distinguish between federal and state laws and local laws and ordinances.

· Trace how laws are made.

Benchmark 4: The Nature of Crime

· Conduct debate on the causes of crime in American society.

Benchmark 5: Writing and Op-Ed

· Communicate information, data, and observations to apply information learned from reading to actual practice.

· Compose multi-paragraph documents clearly, succinctly, and accurately.

· Analyze information and data for value to the research objectives.

· Use correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization when preparing written documents.

· Organize information to use in written and oral communications.

Project 3: Think of the Children

Students will play the role of a criminal justice professional working in juvenile justice. They will participate in the trial of Gerald Gault, a 15-year-old accused of making vulgar prank calls to his neighbor and write a script for his trial including roles and speaking parts for all major professionals in a courtroom.

Project Objectives

General

· Understand the trial process, from arrest through sentencing.

· Compare and contrast juvenile justice and adult criminal justice.

· Apply due process rights to a juvenile moving through the juvenile justice system.

Success Skills

· Interpret information, data, and observations to apply information learned from reading to actual practice.

· Employ verbal skills when obtaining and conveying information.

Benchmark 1: The Rights of Juveniles

· Review the history of the juvenile justice system in the United States.

· Determine law enforcement procedures related to juvenile delinquency.

Benchmark 2: Order in the Court

· Describe the people in a courtroom.

· Evaluate the pre-trial process.

· Discuss the parts of a trial.

· Differentiate between the roles and responsibilities of the people involved in the trial processes.

Benchmark 3: Reforming Juvenile Justice

· Identify the programs and agencies within the juvenile justice system, and describe their roles and responsibilities.

· Determine law enforcement procedures related to juvenile delinquency.

· Analyze current trends in juvenile justice.

· Discuss Florida’s juvenile court system, including procedures and alternative programs.

Benchmark 4: What Went Wrong?

· Consider various post-trial processes and sentences.

· Review the history of the juvenile justice system in the United States.

· Determine law enforcement procedures related to juvenile delinquency.

Benchmark 5: Act the Part

· Determine appropriate courtroom demeanor and participate in a mock trial.