David Iurato
Protecting The
Rights of The Accused
Introduction:
Imagine you are awoken in the middle of the night to the
sounds of the police banging on your door. Half asleep and terrified you open
the door and the police begin searching your home and personal belongings. You
think you are dreaming but you are not! Can this really be happening? Is this
legal? Are your rights being violated? Who can you turn to?
Everyone
would agree that it is important for our society to have a sound justice
system, a strict set of laws and strong law enforcement in order to protect its
citizens. Our legal system is established in a manner that
presumes the accused is “innocent until proven guilty”. But what protections
does the constitution afford to those citizens who are accused of a crime? What
protections do we as citizens have against possible
abuses of law enforcement? Should alleged criminals have the same rights as
law-abiding citizens? The purpose of
this WebQuest is to investigate and examine how important it is to protect the
rights of the accused.
Task:
Using Compulegal and the websites listed below you and a
partner will research the cases of Mapp V Ohio,
Gideon V Wainwright and Goss V Lopez and prepare a 3-minute oral presentation
that includes all of the following:
·
Discuss the facts surrounding the
cases.
·
Discuss the constitutional issues that Mapp V Ohio, Gideon V Wainwright and GossV
Lopez deal with.
·
Discuss the Supreme Court decisions and
the arguments they used to support their decisions.
·
Present your opinion. Explain whether
you agree or disagree the various court rulings and why.
Process:
Read the directions below and click on the highlighted text
to enter the various that will assist you in your presentation.
·
Research the facts of the case
involving MAPP V
OHIO, GIDEON
V WAINWRIGHT and
·
Using the
knowledge you acquired from the facts of the cases, complete the Fact/Issue
Worksheet for each case.
Read
and create notes on the Arguments from both sides of each of the cases. Mapp V Ohio
Argument. Gideon V Wainwright Argument. Goss V Lopez Argument.
· Read and create notes on the full Supreme Court
Decision.
· Read and create notes on at least one of the precedent
cases for each of the cases you are studying. Mapp Case Gideon Case Goss Case
· Using all of the information you have acquired from
above create a 3 minute oral presentation that discusses the facts of the case,
the arguments of both sides, the supreme court’s decision and what they based
their decision on, and whether you agree or disagree with the decision.
Resources:
Ask a Legal Eagle (Ask a real Lawyer!)
Evaluation
Your
grade for this project will be based on the following rubric
Grade of A
Shows
thorough understanding of the topic
Addresses
all aspects of the task
Shows
ability to analyze, evaluate, compare and contrast issues
Richly supports topic with relevant facts, examples, and details
Shows
ability to analyze, evaluate, compare and contrast issues
Richly
supports topic with relevant facts, examples, and details
Presents
a strong and well organized Oral Presentation to the class
Grade of B
Shows a good
understanding of the topic
Addresses all aspects of the task
Shows
ability to analyze, evaluate issues
Includes relevant facts, examples, and details, but does not support all
aspects of the case.
Presents
an organized Oral Presentation
Grade of C
Presents
satisfactory understanding of the topic
Addresses most aspects of the task
Able to analyze issues and events, but not in depth
Uses some relevant facts, examples, and details
Presents an Oral
Presentation, but not very organized
Grade of D
Shows
little understanding of topic
Attempts to address topic, but uses vague and/or inaccurate information
Uses
little facts, examples, or details
Does
not present an acceptable Oral Presentation
STANDARDS:
English
Language Arts – Standards 1,2,3
and 4
Social
Studies – Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship, and Government
Conclusion
After completing this project you should have a clear
understanding how the rights of the accused are protected by the constitution
and how the Supreme Court has upheld and interpreted those rights.