Lesson Plan 8:

Arraignment Court

Grade Level: 11th and 12th

Description:

In this activity the students attend one of the arraignment hearings conducted by the district court and discuss by the process with the judge after the court session.

Goal:

To attend court and to witness how the constitutional rights of a defendant are administrated. This activity gives the students the opportunity to observe several (ten to twenty) people in their community plead their case in a short amount of time (one to two hours).

Objectives:

Students will discuss the jurisdiction of each level of their state court system. They will then outline the general court procedures followed in the arraignment hearings. They must identify the various constitutional rights that each defendant has before and during the court session.

Materials:

Each student should have a copy of the United States Constitution and a profile of the State Court system (it is almost always available for school from the court house). Make prior arrangement with the court clerk so the agendas will be ready. The judge should be notified so he or she can schedule thirty minutes or so after the court session to talk to the students. This debriefing can be done in the classroom or courtroom by the judge, teacher or both, if possible.

Procedures:

Students must cover the United States Constitution in regard to the rights of the citizens. They must identify the rights of the accused (right to a speedy trial, right to a jury trial, right to an attorney, right to remain silent, etc.) Students must understand the court system in their state. Students must know who the players are and what is the role of each in the court drama. Players should include the Judge, Prosecutor (District Attorney & Attorney General), Public Defender, defendant’s lawyer, and defendants. Students will attend the court session as a field trip and observe the proceedings and the proper decorum. The court agenda that lists the defendants and what they are being charged with will be handed out and terms (DWI or DV) will be explained. This agenda is available just before the session and can be obtained by making arrangements with the court clerk. The judge never follows the agenda in the order presented on the paper.

Tying it all Together:

Students tend to remember this experience years later. It is not necessary for the entire class to attend the same session. The major value of this activity is that the students actually see the constitution in action in court, with people they may know.

Dr. Robert B. Weiss of Juneau-Douglas High School in Juneau, Alaska developed this lesson plan. It was found at http://www.col-ed.org/ cur/sst/ sst247.txt