Criminal Justice, Democracy and Equality

This unit highlights criminal procedure through the lens of civil liberties, civil rights, constitutionalism, and civic participation.

Students will identify the criminal procedure amendments in the Bill of Rights and discuss their importance in protecting civil rights and liberties.

In this lesson, students will examine the role of Miranda rights in safeguarding individual civil liberties and rights.

Students will analyze the Sixth Amendment’s role in providing adequate representation in racially and politically charged arrest cases, focusing on key civil rights movement court cases.

Students will delve into the lasting legacies and impacts of the Warren Court’s decisions and discuss to what extent the Court was pivotal in shaping criminal justice reform.

This lesson will explore the role of police discretion and qualified immunity considering the Warren Court’s legacy decisions.

This lesson examines the 1957 Mallory v. United States decision on due process and federal procedure, addressing custodial interrogation and its ties to Jim Crow abuses.

Students will explore the media’s role in criminal procedure, focusing on the Lindbergh case’s impact on media coverage and evaluating its influence on modern court cases.

Students will analyze arguments and data on mass incarceration, review scholarly perspectives, and create infographics to present their own findings and solutions.

Students will analyze and evaluate the extent to which prosecutorial discretion and progressive prosecutors protect and promote the virtue of citizens.

Students will explore the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, focusing on civil liberties and rights related to mass surveillance and how new technologies impact criminal procedure.

The OpenStax American Government 3e textbook complements unit lessons with suggested chapters, pairing summaries, and an annotation guide, supporting varied curriculum needs and student reading levels.

Utilize Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.‘s Birmingham Letter as an extension to the lessons in this unit.