Tuesday, October 7. 2014

Today's schedule is C-AG-D-A-B

C & A Blocks Social Studies 10 - Today we'll finish our work on explaining and identifying the six physiographic regions of Canada. After, I'll have you work on questions 1-5 on page 28 of the Horizons text.

D Block Criminology 12 - Today we'll start with a look at the BC Crime trends from 1998 - 2007 and then we'll talk about the disparity (difference) between the public perception of violent crime and the actual rates of violent crime in Canada...hint take a look to the left. The crime data indicate that rates have declined significantly in the past few years and are now far less than they were a decade ago. Suspected causes for the crime rate drop include an increasing prison population, more police on the street, the end of the crack epidemic and the age structure of society. The data sources show relatively stable patterns in the crime rate. Ecological patterns show that crime varies by season and by urban versus rural environment, however there is evidence of gender patterns in the crime rate: Men commit more crime than women. Age is one of the largest influences on crime; young people commit more crime than the elderly (and there are fewer young people in society). Crime data show that people commit less crime as they age, but the significance and cause of this pattern are still not completely understood. Similarly, racial and class patterns appear in the crime rate. However, it is still unclear whether these are true differences or a function of discriminatory law enforcement.

B Block Law 12 - We'll go through sections 7 - 14 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (legal rights section). We'll look at two cases: Rodriguez v British Columbia (Attorney General), 1993 - which deals with Section 7 of the Charter (life, liberty and security of the person) and R. v. Tessling, 2004 - which deals with Section 8 of the Charter (search and seizure). For more information on the fight in Canada for the right to die on one's own terms look at the CBC In Depth site on the Sue Rodriguez case. In 2011, Gloria Taylor from Kelowna filed a case in B.C. Supreme Court to grant her the right to a doctor-assisted suicide. More info on this case can be found here.