Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Wednesday, November 19. 2014

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

B Block Law 12 - Today we are in the library to begin work on a Canadian Criminal Defense project. Find two recent (in the last two years) criminal cases where a defense discussed in this chapter was used. The defenses are: Alibi, Non-Insane Automatism, Intoxication, Insane Automatism, Battered Woman Syndrome, Self-defense, Necessity, Duress, Ignorance of the law, Mistake of fact, Entrapment, Double jeopardy, and Provocation.

Summarize the cases by answering the following questions:

1. What are the facts of the case?
2. What are the criminal charges?
3. What defense was raised, and what arguments were presented to support the defense?
4. If there was a decision in the case, identify whether or not the defense was successful. If there is no decision yet, provide an opinion on whether you think the defense will be accepted by the courts or not.
5. Provide a personal opinion on the case

Make sure you include:

Name of Case: Give the complete case name indicating all parties. Ensure the appropriate format is used, depending on whether the case is civil or criminal.

Name of Court: Refer to the name and particular level of court where the case was heard.

Citation:
This is the legal case reference from the law-reporting series or online case-reporting site. Use this complete and accurate citation when first referring to the case.

Summary of Key Facts: Summarize the key facts and events of the case in one to two paragraphs. Make sure all the information you include is legally relevant. This is point 1 above.

Applicable Laws: Refer to the legislation that was at issue (for example, section 235 of the Criminal Code or Section 11d of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms). This is point 2 above.

Issue: Identify the issues to be decided by the court in a clear and concise manner, and express these issues in question format. For example - Was the search unreasonable and therefore a violation of section 8 of the Charter? Did provocation occur, and, if so, should the charge be reduced from murder to manslaughter? This is point 1 and point 3 above.

Case Decision or Judgment: Identify the decision of the court (e.g., the appeal was allowed, a new trial was ordered, the accused was found guilty of the crime, etc.). This is point 4 above.

Reason for the Case Decision or Judgment: State the rationale for the judgment by clearly summarizing the factors considered by the judge in his or her decision. This is point 4 above.

Places to find cases - CanLII is a non-profit organization managed by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. CanLII's goal is to make Canadian law accessible for free on the Internet. Click through the databases on the side (provinces and territories) and search by year (2012-2011-2010)...anytime you see Supreme/Superior court or court of Queen's Bench you'll find serious criminal cases (remember look for R. v. in the case citation). Canoe is is a leading Canadian internet portal offering news, sports and entertainment from Sun Media. Crime news stories can be found in the Crime portion of the News section.

A & C Blocks Social Studies 10 - Today you'll have the class to finish your Confederation timelines that you began in Monday's class and time to review for tomorrow's unit final. You will need to submit the timelines today - you can pick them up in 611 by the end of the day. On Thursday you have a unit final and on Friday we'll talk about worldview and discuss first contact between European fur traders and the Aboriginal peoples of the Canadian prairies.

D Block Criminology 12 - Today we'll start our look at white collar crime. We will begin by learning how to identify a pyramid / ponzi scam (for more take a look at How Stuff Works). If there's time, we'll quickly look at individual exploitation of an institutional position, influence peddling & bribery, theft and employee fraud, client fraud and corporate crime. I'll introduce to Edwin H. Sutherland's Differential Association Theory (he introduced the concept "white collar crime") and we'll see what we can find on the Internet about white collar crime....spoil alert LOTS!
National Check Fraud Center
Robert O. Keel White Collar Crime
Canadian Encyclopedia White Collar Crime
Federal Bureau of Investigation White Collar Crime Division
Understanding White Collar Crime
News Stories of White Collar Crime

Lastly we'll start to watch the History Channel DVD "Scammed"...

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