Wednesday, May 26. 2021

Wow...we have a Wednesday. No Flex today, so today's class schedule is:

9:15 - 11:50 B Block Human Geography

12:30 - 3:05 C Block Legal Studies

B Block Human Geography - First we finish the Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown visit to Hawai'i. We are watching this to examine the concept of local (folk) culture through an exploration of what it means to be Hawaiian and the challenges that poses with a global (popular) culture. Remember from the video yesterday, living in Hawai'i doesn't make you Hawaiian, it makes you a resident of Hawai'i. So, often people confuse culture and identity. After we finish the video, our job today is to look at the differences between folk and popular culture and we'll do this through the lens of music, sport (soccer football, skateboarding, UFC) and clothing...

Popular Music (I know it's from 1971 but the video of the Marvin Gaye song below is of musicians from the world over singing a pop song)


Folk Music (Musicians from the Hawaiian Islands singing a song unique to the islands)


Football (not soccer)

I'm hoping that you are seeing some consistent themes in Human Geography this year. Remember that folk culture is traditionally practiced primarily by small, homogeneous groups living in isolated rural areas while popular culture is found in large, heterogeneous societies. Folk culture is influenced heavily by the environment that it develops in while popular culture depends less on the environment because it diffuses on a larger scale (globalization). With the larger globalized scale of popular culture (becoming more dominant), the survival of unique folk cultures is threatened...This is one of the themes I hope you are starting to see.

So...Customs in folk culture (such as provision of food, clothing, and shelter) are clearly influenced by the prevailing climate, soil, and vegetation (utilizing localized resources). Today we'll look at clothing, and then focus on the tragic story of Sulli

From the National Public Radio article Sudden Death Of A Young K-Pop Star Spurs Talk Of Action On Mental Health, Bullying

Women in the K-pop industry are particularly scrutinized and harassed accordingly online — whether for reading a book that allegedly promotes feminism, for wearing clothes that are too scandalous on stage, or even just for sporting a phone case that reads, "Girls can do anything." These types of "scandals" have been exacerbated as Korea experiences both a growing feminist movement and a backlash against it. Sulli was one of the most outspoken female celebrities on women's issues — after Korea's Supreme Court ruled that abortion should be legalized, she posted a message of support, drawing the ire of many online commentators.

This is a strong example of the conflict between folk and global culture. I have a question for you to answer about this in your week 4 work package today.

C Block Legal Studies - We'll look at what a lawful search (not unreasonable) is and find out what search warrants are, how they are obtained and what your rights are connected to searches. To help I'll have you work in partners on the R. v. Clayton (2007) case on page 156 and on the R. v. Shankar (2007) case on page 159 in the All About Law text (that's the talky part of class, right?) 

After being arrested, a person may be released on the spot. This may be when police officers believe that the accused presents no further danger and will appear on the trial date. Others are taken to the police station, where the police record the criminal charges and take fingerprints and photographs. Some of these people will also be released, usually if they are charged with less serious offences. If the police believe that an accused may commit further offences, is a threat to the victim or witness, will interfere with the investigation, or will not appear in court, she or he may be detained until a bail hearing takes place. Just so you know...this is not legal in Canada

So, we'll talk about bail and judicial release procedures and pre trial motions like Plea Bargaining

The plea negotiation has become the primary means of dispensing justice in Canada. It is effective, both for accused criminals looking to minimize their punishment and for prosecutors coping with the torrent of cases sloshing through the courts. Is it morally correct to trade the legal rights guaranteed by the Charter for convenience and cost savings?
 
This question deals with Plea Bargains in Criminal Law. From the Department of Justice here in Canada: 

Broadly speaking, the promises that may be made by Crown counsel fall into three, overlapping categories: (1) promises relating to the nature of the charges to be laid (charge bargaining); (2) promises relating to the ultimate sentence that may be meted out by the court (sentence bargaining); and (3) promises relating to the facts that the Crown may bring to the attention of the trial judge (fact bargaining).

1. Charge Bargaining
   1. Reduction of the charge to a lesser included offence;
   2. Withdrawal or stay of other charges or the promise not to proceed with other possible charges; or
   3. Promise not to charge friends or family of the defendant; or
   4. Promise to withdraw a charge in return for the defendant's undertaking to enter into a peace bond.
2. Sentence Bargaining
   1. Promise to proceed summarily rather than by way of indictment;
   2. Promise to make a specific sentence recommendation;
   3. Promise not to oppose defence counsel's sentence recommendation;
   4. Promise to submit a joint sentencing submission;
   5. Promise not to appeal against sentence imposed at trial;
   6. Promise not to apply for a more severe penalty (for example, by not giving notice to seek a higher range of sentence based on the accused's previous conviction – s. 727 of the Criminal Code);
   7. Promise not to apply to the trial court for a finding that the accused is a dangerous offender (s. 753 of the Criminal Code) or a long–term offender (s. 753.1 of the Criminal Code);
   8. Promise to make a representation as to the place of imprisonment, type of treatment, etc.; or
   9. Promise to arrange the sentence hearing before a particular judge.
3. Fact bargaining
   1. promise not to "volunteer" information detrimental to the accused during the sentencing hearing;
   2. promise not to mention a circumstance of the offence that may be interpreted by the judge as an aggravating factor (see, for example, the aggravating factors listed in s. 718.2(a) of the Criminal Code)

This will get us ready for a double video block tomorrow...a CBC Fifth Estate documentary on Karla Homolka and then a Law & Order episode “Fools for Love” based on her story.