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Lesson Links Access
to Justice Network is sponsored
by the Department of Justice, Legal Studies programs at the University
of Alberta, the University of Montreal, and Web Networks. The
site contains a directory of legal organizations and sites, Law
FAQ, legislative materials, 12 lesson plans, and opportunities
for virtual conferences. Edsitement is a site that contains Humanities Learning Guides. The Political Debate Learning Guide contains the lesson, Argument in an Athenian Jail: Socrates and the Law." The lesson is for grades 8-12, and its own words "This lesson focuses on the Crito, in which Socrates argues against the idea that he should escape the penalty of death imposed on him by Athens, laying the groundwork for future debates over the rights of the individual and the rule of law." This lesson does allow for connections to present-day legal issues. Kevin's
Lesson Center contains a Mini
Lesson on Evaluating Crime (grades 9-12) in the Social
Studies section. He has used this lesson in his own class as an
introduction to a Criminal Law unit. The purpose of the lesson
in his own words is "to make students aware there is no concrete
consensus as to what is a crime, the seriousness of crimes, or
variances of actions that change 'noncriminal' behavior to 'criminal'
behavior. The students will go through the process of ranking
15 "crimes" or "noncrimes." Score Lesson Collection contains a Mock International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. The lesson has students gather materials from on-line Internet resources about current events with historical roots, learn about "crimes against humanity," learn that the mechanism established at Nuremberg, and about the delicate balance that can occur between two ethnic groups with a history of bitter rivalry. This a 2 - 5 wk unit, and links are provided for both students & teachers (also notes for teachers). The
Law Connection is in its own words "A place where
teachers in British Columbia can learn to incorporate legal concepts
and principles in their classroom teaching, and students can find
information about the law." The site contains articles and
lesson plans on current and past issues, and touches on a variety
of issues from employment equity to the aboriginal treaty process."
Our
Best History Lessons
is from a curriculum course at Queen's University. It includes
a lesson plan for a Criminal Offenses unit on the topic of Homicide.
Resources Centennial
Secondary School's Law 12 page contains
links for students on a wide variety of topics and issues. Capital Punishment Statistics from the US Department of Justice contains data from 1999 on executions, prisoners under sentence of death, and summaries of previous annual reports from 1993 to 1998. The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) has a range of current information on the death penalty in the US and internationally. The site does an excellent job of analyzing the death penalty (and providing current statistics) in terms of race, gender, mental retardation, age, and by state. The site also offers information on costs, methods, history, deterrence, and public opinion. Department
of Justice Canada contains information on the department,
and on the system of justice in Canada. The site also has online
publications which teachers and students should find useful such
as Canada's System of Justice, Canada's Court System,
Laws of Canada, and A Guide to the Making of Federal
Acts and Regulations. Duhaime's
Law Dictionary is a
"plain language" law dictionary from a lawyer in Victoria. I skimmed
the site and it seems easy to read and accurate. The site has
received a number of awards which are displayed at the bottom
of the page. Dumb Laws is an American-based site but it also includes dumb laws from other countries including Canada. For example, did you know it's illegal to kill a sasquatch in BC? Electronic
Law Library from the
Legal Services Society provides links to legal information in
BC, other provinces, and federally. The site has links in the
following categories: Law, Courts, Government, About the Law,
and Legal Resources. The About the Law section is quite good as
it offers links in a variety of current topics such as Gun Control,
and Internet Law. Sir
Charles Tupper - Law 12 Students' Reference URLs is quite
small but it does have useful links under the following topics:
Hell's Angels, Drinking and Driving, Violence
in Schools, and Drugs. VAGUEpolitix is an interesting site. It is a Web Lab from PBS that is designed to "take the boredom out of keeping up on key political issues." The site currently has a Focus on Crime where it looks at crime prevention. There are 10 topics ranging from race to gender to self-defense issues all related to crime. The topics contain some interesting and provocative articles (and a few games) on the vague and often contradictory nature of the law and what is considered to be a crime and who is considered to be a criminal. The site also contains links to related web sites. Some of the articles are somewhat provocative so you'll have to use your best judgment about sharing the site with your students, but you could always just used selected articles. Note: This site was originally on the PBS website but now it is on its own and I have not verified the contact at the new site. York University
Law Library: Law
Related Internet Resources contains links to a variety
of sites by topic and country. The site is aimed at university
students, but grade 12 students should still be able to make use
of it as well.
Please report any dead links.
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