Unit 9 Assignment – Law and Society

This assignment is worth 100 points and is due at the end of Unit 9. The rubric that will be used to grade your assignment is available from the Grading Rubrics page under Course Resources. SUBMITTING YOUR ASSIGNMENT When you are ready to submit your assignment, select the Assignment tab at the top of the screen and choose the Unit 9 Assignment Dropbox to upload your completed assignment. This assignment addresses the following unit learning outcomes: Analyze how criminal courts operate in American society. Examine adversarial and consensual models of the criminal court system. Analyze the pros and cons of plea bargaining. Examine the role played by juries in the criminal court system. Of particular importance to the U.S. is the criminal justice process. The reliance on juries to deliver justice is essential. You can evaluate this system through many different lenses or models, such as due process, adversarial, and crime control models. Another major element of the American legal process is the work of the attorneys within the system. The system requires trained professionals. You need to understand how attorneys are trained to work within our system. This assignment will evaluate your understanding of these components. Please complete the following two parts. Part 1: The Jury Process Barkan provided several reasons why juries are important to American society. Please explain two of the reasons why this process is important to our community. Describe the four models Barkan uses to assess the criminal jury process: due process, consensual, crime control, and adversarial models. Describe how they successfully work in pairs. Which is more often demonstrated in our criminal court process today? Explain and support your answer with examples. Part 2: Evaluating the Legal Profession Barkan explains the current design of the typical law school education in the U.S. He also explains how some have critiqued the legal education that one will study in law school. Barkan focuses on three main criticisms of legal education: It shuns social science and neglects important considerations of race, class, gender, and other social variables. It socializes students to be more politically conservative and orients them to the needs of corporations and other established interests rather than to the needs of the poor and people of color. It is brutal for students and particularly alienating for women. For additional information, check out the following article in Westlaw in the Library: Steven B. Dow, There’s Madness in the Method: A Commentary on Law, Statistics, and the Nature of Legal Education, 57 Okla. L. Rev. 579 (2004). In your response, you will first explain the design to the typical American law school curriculum, focusing particularly on the main features of the first year of studies at law school. Then select two of the three criticisms. Explain Barkans critique. You may wish to conduct some outside research to find out more about these three criticisms, in addition to the Dow article. How would you respond to this criticism? Do you agree with the critique or not? Explain and support your answers with examples and authoritative support. This assignment should be 23 pages in length (roughly 600800 words, excluding title page and references). You will use the chapter reading and at least two outside authoritative sources to help support your analysis. In addition to fulfilling the specifics of the assignment, a successful paper must also meet the following criteria: Length of the paper should be 23 pages (600800 words), excluding title page and references. Include a cover page and references page in 10- to 12-point font (Arial, Courier, and Times New Roman are acceptable). Viewpoint and purpose should be clearly established and sustained. Assignment should follow the conventions of Standard English (correct grammar, punctuation, etc.). Writing should be well-ordered, logical and unified, as well as original and insightful. Your work should display superior content, organization, style, and mechanics. Appropriate citation style should be followed. You should also make sure to: Include a title page with full name, class name, section number, and date. Include an introductory and concluding paragraph and demonstrate college-level communication through the composition of original materials in Standard English. Use examples to support your discussion.