Period 2: Intro to Civil Law, Day 7 - Class Recap

A look at the White House, in Washington, DC. We talked today about the federal government shutdown in class.

Dear class,

Welcome to your three day weekend! Here's what we did this morning.

Soundtrack: “Waiting on the World to Change” by John Mayer. Selected because we are waiting on the U.S. government to end the shutdown. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/10/13:
Tort Report
Shutdown
Continue Hot Coffee
Grade Check/Work

Homework: Turn in any missing/late work by the end of the day (today), in order for your progress report grade to be updated. Read the blog! Have a great weekend. Tort Report assigned to: Ellen.

Tort Report: Antonio had an article that he talked about, in regards to a lawsuit, but he hasn't emailed it or given me the printout yet, so I can't post it or give him credit (yet) for the assignment. Get it to me, Antonio!

Shutdown: I wanted to be sure to take a little time to address the current U.S. government shutdown and how it is related to what we talked about at the start of the year. Why can't President Obama simply declare a new national budget? Answer: because the legislative branch of the government is what decides new laws and passes the budget. Why can't the Republicans in the House of Representatives get what they want in terms of reforming (or defunding) the Affordable Care Act (also known as "Obamacare")? Answer: because President Obama would veto the legislation if it made it to his desk to sign.

Those are two very simplified examples, but hopefully the class understood that our system of limited government and checks and balances means that sometimes, we have conflicts like this. Hopefully, it will get resolved soon.

Continue Hot Coffee: For the rest of class, we watched (and finished) the documentary "Hot Coffee," which looks at four different problems with the civil justice system. The film finished right at the end of class, so we will have a discussion on it next time. If you somehow lost the assignment, here it is:

Google Drive: Hot Coffee Viewing Questions

Hopefully, you found this film interesting. I saw a few attempts to disengage from it, but most of the class looked into it. For me, it is a really excellent way to show interesting aspects of what we are studying.

Grade Check/Work: We did not have any time left over after the documentary was done for this. However, your grades are always posted (by student ID number) in the room. Unless you do something to change that grade by the end of the day, that is what it will be for your progress report.

Let me know if you need any help or support! Have a great weekend.

Period 2: Intro to Civil Law, Day 6 - Class Recap

I don't drink coffee (I have enough energy as is), but here's a delicious morning treat that I once had at JFK airport in New York, in 2010. Jamba Juice is amazing!

Dear class,

As I have said before, I really enjoy exploring different cases and possible outcomes with you all. Yes, this process is somewhat time consuming, but it is also very important to gaining knowledge about how particular laws impact our study. Thanks for following along! Here's what we did today in class.

Soundtrack: “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” by Led Zeppelin. A great song for referencing the concept of liability! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/8/13:
Tort Report
Finish Mosely Case
Chapter 18 Review
Hot Coffee

Homework: Start reviewing terms. Turn in missing work. Check the blog! Tort Report assigned to: Antonio

Tort Report: Patrick brought in this article about one of the largest settlements in California history. SourceFed.com - Brutal Beating Victim Awarded $58 Million Settlement. The picture that accompanies the article gives you an impression of just how bad the man's injuries were. We talked in class about the concept of punitive damages, which is to try and ensure that the entity at fault in a civil case has a big enough incentive to never have something like it happen again.

Finish Mosely Case: Last class, we started looking at Mosely v. Portland Public Schools, which is a case about a student suing the district for negligence in not protecting her from a knife attack. Here is the actual Oregon Supreme Court ruling in the case. Basically, because of the statute cited in the handout, the school was not found responsible. We talked about why this was and then I had students answer a few questions in notebooks, which are on a handout in class.

Chapter 18 Review: Next, we continued our look at the answers to the questions posed in Chapter 18 of the textbook, about various kinds of torts. We still have a few more sections to get through - thank you for working hard on this and contributing to the class discussion.

Hot Coffee: To end class, we started watching the documentary Hot Coffee, which has to do with all sorts of aspects of the civil justice system. In the beginning, it is about the infamous case of a woman spilling McDonald's hot coffee on herself and how that case was misconstrued (in the eyes of the filmmaker) to encourage the concept of tort reform.

Here are the questions that the class is completing as part of watching the documentary. We will occasionally pause and talk about them.

Google Drive: "Hot Coffee" Documentary Viewing Questions

We made it through about the first 15 minutes of the film in class - hopefully we will be able to finish it next class. Usually I do not show entire movies, unless I think they are very good and relevant to what we are learning about. This is definitely one of those circumstances.

We will get back to it next class! Thank you for reading and doing your homework.

Period 2: Intro to Civil Law, Day 5 - Class Recap

One of the topics addressed in today's reading was about civil lawsuits relating to airline bombings. This is a picture I took of a famous airline - Air France - flying in over Maho Bay, St. Maarten in the Caribbean (2009).

Hi everyone,

Hopefully the book work today was not too boring and you are feeling good about where you are in class and the upcoming weekend. Here's what happened today.

Soundtrack: “Remedy” by The Black Crowes. Selected because "remedy" is one of our vocabulary words, as in the restitution owed to make up for a harm done. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/4/13:
Tort Report
Finish Chapter 18
Review
Mosley v. Portland Public Schools

Homework: Start reviewing vocab from Chapter 18. Turn in missing work. Check the blog! Tort Report assigned to: Patrick.

Tort Report: Brenda brought in a news article about the incident in Washington, DC yesterday. It did not have to do with civil law (at least, at the moment), but here it is to check out: Yahoo.com - Attempt to Ram White House Gate Ends With Female Suspect Dead.

Patrick is up next class and he already emailed me an article. Thanks!

Finish Chapter 18: For much of the class, it was quiet work time to be looking over various definitions relating to torts and thinking about different situations they could apply. As I said in the room, we do not have enough Street Law books for every law class, so we just have a class set, which means that sometimes, we will just have to sit and focus on book work. Not my favorite, but necessary so that we get a sense of the terms and situations. I will present the same information in other formats, as well.

Review: I always love talking about these sorts of situations (which came up as the answers to 18.1-11). We went through the answers up to 18.4 in class today, and we will continue this next class. To be honest, I value the discussion and critical thinking from students way more than just the answers in the notebook. That you are actively engaged and thinking about these situations is so important for understanding the content.

Mosley v. Portland Public Schools: To end class, I handed out an actual case that occurred about 20 years ago at Jefferson High School in Portland, having to do with a student getting knifed and then suing the district. I divided the class in half and then had the two sides debate. Next class, we will look at the actual result and answer the questions related to the case.

Have a great weekend!

Period 2: Intro to Civil Law, Day 4 - Class Recap

This is a picture of me with my friends Scott and Clarke before a Portland Blazers playoff game in 2009. If a fight had broken out at this moment and I knocked both of them unconscious with my superhuman strength, I could be tried both as a criminal (for battery) and in a civil court (for damages related to the incident, like medical bills). It's a good thing I have the restraint not to commit such actions!

Hi everyone,

I am glad that we are starting to finally get into specifics of the class! I know it might be tedious at first to learn vocabulary from the book, but it is definitely necessary in order to know what we are talking about. Thank you for the participation today.

Soundtrack: “Royals” by Lorde. Selected for today because it is a very popular current song and royals/rulers are people that oversee laws. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/2/13:
Tort Report
Student Bill of Rights
What is a Tort?
Torts Chapter Work

Homework: Start reviewing terms. Turn in missing work. Check the blog! Next Tort Report assigned to: Brenda.

Tort Report: We actually had two tort reports today, due to Sarah being able to present hers. They were: TheGuardian.com - Police accused of bias over culling of badgers (brought in by Brendan) and NBCnews.com - Man wrongly imprisoned in murder case wins $13.2 million in civil rights lawsuit. I think the second article may relate to our class a bit more (being in the US and dealing more with people), but both were interesting to talk about. Thanks!

Student Bill of Rights: We continued thinking about various rights that students should have (remember that last class we read this article about how high school students were being treated like prisoners) and came up with the following:

1. The right to defend yourself.
2. A process to evaluate and possibly remove ineffective educators
3. No cruel or unusual punishment.
4. Students will be treated equally, regardless of distinction.
5. Students should have the ability to self-govern.
6. Students have freedom of speech.
7. Students should be able to wear whatever they want.
8. Students should be able to choose what work to do.
9. The campus should be open for students to come and go as they please.
10. Students should have the ability to organize groups that are related to any topic they want.

I really appreciated the discussion that these generated as we were thinking about them! In the future, I might ask you to recall this for a test question, or something along those lines.

What is A Tort? Ahh, yes. Finally, we are getting into the details of the class. To begin, I asked the class to think of all the actions that could potentially result in a lawsuit. We created quite a list! This was to get the that there are many different possible lawsuits as a legal remedy for a situation.

Torts Chapter Work: Next, I started going through Chapter 18 in our Street Law textbook (there is an in class set), which is an introduction to torts. We went through a few situations and analyzed whether or not it could be a viable lawsuit as I read the first pages of the chapter aloud. The rest of the class was student directed, as it was going through as much of the rest of the chapter as possible, writing out definitions (aside from what we already know), and attempting to solve the problems presented.

Next class, we will continue on this and talk more about the concept of torts and how they work in practice with examples.

Period 2: Intro to Civil Law, Day 3 - Class Recap

We had a lot of rain over the weekend. I was reminded of this time in Aruba (2011), when it rained so hard that water was overflowing huge containment barrels and flooding the streets.

Hi everyone,

Even though I am feeling a bit under the weather, my day was brightened considerably by the excellent work and discussion we had in class. Thank you! Here's a recap of what happened.

Soundtrack: “Set Fire to the Rain” by Adele. Selected because it rained almost the entire weekend, making this September the rainiest on record. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/30/13:
Tort ReportNotebook Pass Back
Debrief Forced Choice
High School As A Prison
Torts Chapter Work

Homework: Turn in missing work! Start reviewing vocab. Check the blog! Tort Report assigned to: Brendan.

Tort Report/Notebook Pass Back: James brought in this article about a woman suing Donald Trump (and ultimately losing in court): Yahoo.com - 87-year-old woman loses to Trump in civil case. It seems as if Mr. Trump took particular relish in combating these charges and winning. Thanks for the article, James! Brendan, you are up next.

Debrief Forced Choice: For this section (which we kept short), I just wanted to hear thoughts about how the debate exercise last week went. I really enjoy them, but I do wonder if students find it hard to stay engaged in a two day long activity. Thanks for the feedback. You will have multiple opportunities to give me feedback during my time with your class!

High School As A Prison: I read this article the other day and thought that it was very relevant to our study of law, considering our setting at Westview. Here is the article online: RollingStone.com - When High School Students Are Treated Like Prisoners.

Here are the questions that we used in class to reflect on the article (which will be graded in the next notebook check):

1. Have you ever felt targeted by someone in power? If yes, what happened? If no, why do you think that is?
2. Do you feel more or less comfortable with SSOs with guns at Westview?
3. Do you feel like adolescent students deserve more rights than they currently receive? Can you think of an example? If you were to make a list of 10 rights that every student should have, what would it consist of?

We had small group discussions about these, then talked as a class. This discussion was so good and relating to what we are learning about that I actually just let it go until the end of the period. The five rights that we came up with so far as a class were: 

1. The right to defend yourself.

2. A process to evaluate and remove ineffective educators.

3. No cruel or unusual punishment.

4. Students will be treated equally, regardless of distinction.

5. Students should have the ability to self-govern.

Next class, we will finish up with this and then get down to work on learning more about what, specifically, torts are.

Please be sure to work on any missing assignments and get them turned in as soon as possible. Thanks!

Period 2: Intro to Civil Law, Day 2 - Class Recap

We talked about the death penalty today and various acts that could lead to it. This is a picture of what used to be Adolf Hitler's bunker in Berlin (taken this past June). Had he not committed suicide here, Hitler certainly would have faced the death penalty for his crimes against humanity.

Dear class,

Thank you for another fun, interesting, and productive conversation today! It is always so cool to hear where everyone is at in regards to the various issues of the day. Hopefully you remained engaged throughout! On to the recap.

Soundtrack: “I’m A Believer” by Smash Mouth. Selected because we talked in class about what we believe in regards to certain issues. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/26/13:
Tort Report
Finish Forced Choice
Reflection
Notebook Check

Homework: Have a great weekend! Make sure to have all work for your notebook check turned in or ready to turn in next week (see below for list). Read the blog! Next Tort Report assigned to James.

Tort Report: Sarah emailed me a Tort Report article, and it was really good. However, she missed class today, so I will hold onto it until next class, when both she and James will present.

Finish Forced Choice: I selected just a few of the questions to go over as a class, since we did not have enough time to address them all. Like I wrote above, I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and debate! Thank you for engaging each other respectfully. Here are the questions again:

1. Giving up some of our rights (like our phones being listened to without a warrant) is necessary for our own protection.
2. The Second Amendment means that everyone in the US has the right to have any weapons that they want.
3. It bothers me that the National Security Administration/federal government can see whatever we do online.
4. Marijuana should be legalized everywhere for recreational use.
5. Organized prayer in public schools should be allowed.
6. There are too many unnecessary  lawsuits in the United States.
7. The government of a country should have the power to make decisions that the majority of the people in it do not support.
8. Someone is always at fault for beginning a conflict.
9. I support the idea of a “three strikes” law, where criminals that are convicted of three different felonies automatically get life in prison.
10. Should the motto “In God We Trust” be removed from our currency?
11. I agree that people who are convicted of taking the lives of others should have the death penalty available as an option for punishment.
12. Should convicted felons be allowed to vote?
13. A ban on all guns would reduce crime in the United States.
14. People in power are always corrupt in some way.
15. I think the idea of mandatory minimum sentences are a good idea (like Measure 11 in Oregon – 25 years for murder, 5 year and 10 months for second degree Assault).

Reflection: After the Forced Choice exercise, I assigned a one page (in class, though if you did not finish it, it is homework) written reflection. The questions I wanted to be sure you addressed are: What was the most difficult or controversial question for you? Why? How do these sorts of questions relate to the study of law?

Notebook Check: Finally, to end class, I showed the grading rubric for the notebook check and collected notebooks. I will go through these after school today. Here's what needs to be in your notebook/attached for a grade:

1. What Is Law? PowerPoint notes and student definition of law: _____ (5 points)

2. Daily Activities and the Law handout (10 activities and how they are impacted by law): _____ (5 points)

3. Criminal Law vs. Civil Law notes/table of differences: ____ (3 points)

4. Street Law - Chapter 1 Definitions and/or Intro to Law PowerPoint notes: _____ (5 points)

5. Intro to Law Vocab Review sheet (checks and balances/federalism/rights on front): _____ (3 points)

6. Last Intro notes (human rights, common law, adversary system, inquisitional system, legislative intent: _____ (3 points)

7. Forced Choice Reflection: _____ (6 points)

Total: _______ (out of 30 possible)

If you are at all confused about this, you came to the right place. Here are the documents that will help you with completing these assignments, if you missed class or misplaced earlier papers:

1) Google Drive - What is Law? PowerPoint

2) The daily activities sheet was a handout in class. If you do not have one, please see me for another copy.

3) This was a table that we completed together in class on the overhead. Please see me for a copy of it.

4) The book has the definitions, or you could just read through this: Google Drive - Introduction to Law Vocabulary PowerPoint.

5) Again, this was a handout in class that we went through together. I have extra copies in the room if needed.

6) Google Drive - Last Introductory Vocab Document.

7) Please see the "Reflection" section above.

Have a great weekend (after classes tomorrow). See you on Monday!

Period 2: Intro to Civil Law, Day 1 - Class Recap

Our class today was somewhat like Olympic fencing, with the forced choice debates! On the right is Mariel Zagunis (picture taken on August 1, 2012), who carried the US flag at the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics and is the cousin of my good friend Joe Zagunis.

Hi everyone,

I love days like today and just getting to mostly listen to everyone talk about their perspective on issues. Thank you all for participating - I am really excited to continue next class!

Soundtrack: “Get Up, Stand Up” by Bob Marley. Selected as the entrance music for today because the class was asked to take a stand on various issues and explain why. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/24/13:
Tort Report
Blog Recap
Test Grades/Review
Forced Choice

Homework: Read the blog! Next Tort Report assigned to: Sarah.

Tort Report: Today's report on a civil case (this one is about civil liberties) was brought in by Shakti, who selected: PolicyMic.com - Florida v. Harris Supreme Court 2013 Decison: SCOTUS Sides Against Civil Liberties Argument. So this is actually the OPPOSITE of what Shakti said - in fact, the court ruled that drug sniffing dogs ARE enough to get probable cause to search someone. I will have to clear that up next class, because I don't want anyone thinking incorrectly when police dogs are around!

Blog Recap: I again went over this website and the importance of checking it to keep up with what is going on in class. If you did before the test, you knew one of the answers already! Please be in the habit of reviewing here before and after each class. This is also an important tool if you would like help with anything - just comment and I will get back to you ASAP.

Test Grades/Review: I passed back all the tests that were taken on Friday and went through the answers. I also explained how I scored it, with 25 being the maximum. Your full class grades as of about 7:15 AM this morning are posted in the classroom, by Student ID number. I will be refreshing these as the semester goes along so you know exactly where you are at. If you are unhappy with your test grade, you may retake a version of the same material by attaching full test corrections to your test (What did you get wrong? Why? How would you fix it to make it correct?) and turning it in to me when you are ready to retake it.

Forced Choice: If you missed class or want to review the statements again, here is what we are debating on in class as another introduction to thinking about the elements of law in our lives. Remember, you must select either YES or NO and be prepared to talk about it in class.

1. Giving up some of our rights (like our phones being listened to without a warrant) is necessary for our own protection. 

2. The Second Amendment means that everyone in the US has the right to have any weapons that they want.

3. It bothers me that the National Security Administration/federal government can see whatever we do online. 

4. Marijuana should be legalized everywhere for recreational use.

5. Organized prayer in public schools should be allowed.

6. There are too many unnecessary  lawsuits in the United States.

7. The government of a country should have the power to make decisions that the majority of the people in it do not support.

8. Someone is always at fault for beginning a conflict.

9. I support the idea of a “three strikes” law, where criminals that are convicted of three different felonies automatically get life in prison.

10. Should the motto “In God We Trust” be removed from our currency?

11. I agree that people who are convicted of taking the lives of others should have the death penalty available as an option for punishment.

12. Should convicted felons be allowed to vote?

13. A ban on all guns would reduce crime in the United States.

14. People in power are always corrupt in some way.

15. I think the idea of mandatory minimum sentences are a good idea (like Measure 11 in Oregon – 25 years for murder, 5 year and 10 months for second degree Assault).

We were able to get through the first five questions with this class. On Thursday, we will continue talking (I doubt we will do all of them) and then write a reflection on the exercise. Again, I love this activity because it brings up such great student directed ideas and concepts. I also love just listening to various perspectives and thinking about the issues myself. Many of them are tough for a reason!