Monday, April 16. 2018

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

A 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 the class was used/attempted. 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.

B Block Introduction to Law 10 - Today we'll go to the library so you may start working on our last project of the year...your Fairy Tale Criminal Code Case Study. Many thanks to Mr. Scott McKillop of Winston Knoll Collegiate in Saskatchewan and Ms. Sarah Curry (currently in Toronto, Ontario) for the idea and the "bones" of this assignment.

Fairy tales are among the most violent and chilling tales in storytelling. While modern tales often have a happy ending, historically, older tales were full of elves, goblins, witches and magic, often resulting in violent endings. The Grimm brothers Jacob and Wilhelm are possibly the most famous publishers of fairy tales. In 1802, Jacob went to university to study law at the University of Marburg. As always, his little brother followed him, and entered law school in 1803. So the Grimm fairy tales come from two German lawyers so this makes them perfect for a criminal law analysis!

You are a court reporter at a criminal trial involving a fairy tale. Your job during the case is to accurately report the case to your readers. Your story will summarize the events leading to the trial (the story), what the person is being charged with, who testified and to what for the Crown, who testified and to what for the defense including what was the basis for their defense, and finally what the judge’s decision was and why.

Required items:

1. Summary of the facts – Summarize the fairy tale that you are using.
2. Crown’s case – Lawyer’s opening statement which includes what the defendant is being charged with (Use the criminal code and/or your textbook to find the offence and record the Section and the number), what penalty they are asking for, and who testified (Minimum of three (3) witnesses including the victim assuming they are alive) along with testimony of each witness.
3. Defense’s case – Lawyer’s opening statement including what is his/her client’s defense will be and who will be testifying (Minimum of three (3) witnesses including the defendant) along with the testimony of each witness
4. The judge's decision - Is the defendant guilty as charged? guilty of a lesser offense? or not guilty at all? What sentence will be given if necessary (the Criminal Code outlines minimum and maximum sentences)? Give the reasons for the decision made, why did the judge make the decision that they did?

For a really good example, Check out: Appleman Law Hansel & Gretel, Appleman Law Little Red Riding Hood, Appleman Law Goldilocks and the Three Bears  or Hansel and Gretel a Lawyer's Fairy Tale by the Legal Geeks.

Grimm Fairy Tales
Anderson Fairy Tales
Classic Fairy Tales
Another page of Grimm tales
Another page of Anderson tales


C Block Criminology 12 - Last week we started learning how to identify a pyramid / ponzi scam (for more take a look at How Stuff Works). Remember the pyramidal structure? Next we'll look corporate crime. We'll watch a few sections of the movie "The Corporation". Please do not forget that the documentary is an opinion piece...it is trying to persuade you that a corporation acts like a psychopath. Not all business is bad but we do need to understand the "corporate view" of white collar criminal activity. What is it that makes a successful business person and what kind of ethical behaviour is valued by corporate culture? You will need to work on the following questions:

1. Is it fair to blame a single executive for the activities of a company that has thousands of employees?
2. Can Corporations Commit Murder? If a corporation is considered as a person in law (as it is in the US) who can be held liable (responsible) if a corporation kills people?  
3. The documentary raises important questions about ethics and personal responsibility. One of the fundamental messages in the film is that corporations are irresponsible because in an attempt to satisfy corporate goals, everyone else is put at risk. To what extent is a person responsible for what they do even when within a company? Is a person morally culpable for their actions when satisfying the goal of profit within a corporation? Why or why not?

For more on the movie go to the official site here

From the Business Ethics Forum blog site:

An outstanding in-depth article on the Value of Corporate Values can be found in an article by Reggie Van Lee, Lisa Fabish, and Nancy McGaw in this month's S+B. Based on a survey at 365 companies in 30 countries, the authors claim "increasingly, companies around the world have adopted formal statements of corporate values, and senior executives now routinely identify ethical behavior, honesty, integrity, and social concerns as top issues on their companies’ agendas". The highlights of the survey and article are:

1. A large number of companies are making their values explicit. That’s a change — quite a significant change — from corporate practices 10 years ago. The ramifications of this shift are just beginning to be understood.
2. Ethical behavior is a core component of company activities.
3. Most companies believe values influence two important strategic areas — relationships and reputation — but do not see the direct link to growth.
4. Most companies are not measuring their “ROV.”
5. Top performers consciously connect values and operations.
6. Values practices vary significantly by (continental) region.
7. The CEO’s tone really matters.

The article provides quantitative data about these 7 findings and concludes with "A commitment to corporate values may be in vogue, but the public will remain suspicious until corporations both understand and can demonstrate that they are committed to using values to create value". What we are looking at is what makes people abuse the public trust in corporations.


D Block Human Geography 11 - Today with Mr. V. we'll look at conflict between religions and governments with a focus on the Dalai Lama, the Taliban and ISIS, and the caste system of India. We will then move onto tensions within religions by looking in more detail at The Troubles (in Northern Ireland). We will conclude by looking at tensions between religions by looking at the incredible case of Jerusalem.

 In groups you'll work on a map of old Jerusalem to come up with a solution that might help ease religious tensions. There will be a list of questions for your group to answer on the back of the map.