Monday, May 6, 2013 - 2:10pm

Welcome to the "final stretch" of Law and Society!  Unit 5 is a wide-ranging mixture of things and I like to leave flexibility at this time of the year so we can explore current topics as they emerge in our study (such as the recent situation with the Boston Marathon bombing).

You have received an overview for Unit 5 with the UNIT VOCAB included.  Note those are due on 9-10 May (depending on A/B).  These are the last of the terms for our course.  I would recommend starting the vocab right away and working on it gradually.  You will be writing ONE MORE LAW JOURNAL also -- I changed up from the original schedule on that somewhat and will keep you posted on that.  It will be of the take-home variety again.

Monday, April 8, 2013 - 7:19am

Welcome to Unit 4!  We are beyond the half-way point of the class now and we will take the foundation we laid concerning Constitutional Law and apply that to a greater understanding of Criminal Law.  During the transition period we are completing Journal 3-4 and will also be watching a film called "12 Angry Men." We will continue with GUEST SPEAKERS and also take a couple field trips in the near future to see two court houses within our county.

Friday, March 22, 2013 - 7:46am

Welcome to Unit 3 of our exploration of the Law!  We have nearly reached the MID-POINT of the course and over the next several days we will be exploring TWO IMPORTANT LEGAL CONCEPTS:  Due Process of Law and Equal Protection of the Law.

LOOKING AHEAD ON OUR SCHEDULE AT THIS POINT WITH A FEW REMINDERS:  

The week of 25 March is MID-TERM WEEK with 4 days of school.  We will be off from Friday (3.29) through Tuesday (4.2) for the Easter Break.

UNIT 3 TERMS ARE DUE ON Wednesday-Thursday 27-28 MARCH (A or B)

LAW JOURNALS 3-4 (combined) DUE ON FRIDAY 5 APRIL (for everyone)

AND . . . KEEP WORKING ON YOUR CASE RESEARCH PAPER!  

Monday, March 4, 2013 - 1:04pm

Welcome to our second unit of study!  Hopefully you feel better prepared than 3 weeks ago to begin the process of understanding the legal system!  In this unit we will start drilling down on CONSTITUTIONAL LAW by doing the following things:

1.  Understanding the role of the Supreme Court in our system of government
2.  Learning more about the origins of the Bill of Rights
3.  Analyzing freedom of expression as it relates to speech and press
4.  Analyzing freedom of expression as it relates to religion

These are BIG TOPICS, but hopefully I can introduce them to you in a way that will make the understandable -- that's the goal!  Also, be prepared to start working on CASE LAW during this unit of study -- this is something that we will do for the remainder of the course and I will get you started on it right away.  

Sunday, February 3, 2013 - 11:03am

Welcome to spring semester Law and Society!  For the next 18 weeks we will take a hard look at the legal environment of the United States in early 2013.  I utilize this blog for two reasons:  first, it gives you an idea of where we are going with each unit of study; and second, since I update it after each class period, it helps you stay organized, particularly if you have to miss class for some reason.  Get used to checking in on it regularly.  

HERE'S WHAT TO EXPECT IN OUR FIRST WEEK OF CLASS: