 |
 |
|
Courts Home | Search | Site Map | Help |
1997 YMCA Mock Trial Competition
Trials & American Society
Introduction for Teachers
Objectives of Mock Trial
Conducting Mock Trials: Complexity, Flexibility, Simplicity
Whether the issue is teaching evolution in school, the kidnapping of the baby of a famous couple, or a Hollywood lovers' quarrel over property, American have long relished the spectacle of the courtroom trial.
In recent history, crowds have strained against police barriers, hoping to get into courtrooms where Presidential counselors were being tried as part of the Watergate conspiracy. They have packed the courtroom where a school mistress was on trial for the murder of her lover, a famous physician. They have sat watching while a would-be Presidential assassin's psyche was exposed to the world. The names of the parties to cases like these move into American legal and popular history: John Ehrlichman and Robert Haldeman, Jeanne Harris; John Hinckley. Then, too, the names of the most prominent role-players among the judges and attorneys edge into daily conversation, at least for a time: John Sirica, Barrington Parker, F. Lee Bailey, E. Bennett Williams. Scores of reporters, and, in recent years, miles of videotape - even inside some courtrooms - feed this public fascination. Perhaps the media's role in heightening the public's contact with the trial process is most clearly underscored by the fact that one of the nation's most well-known trial celebrities is not a real person at all but the Hollywood creation of a detective out of fiction: Perry Mason.
Media hype aside, there are important reasons for the public attraction to the trial process, and these are undoubtedly inherent in the nature of our government and legal system. Perhaps the most basic of these reasons is the public's perception of the trial as one of society's principal vehicles for the achievement of justice for all citizens, a belief which is the cornerstone of our American legal system. In these times, apparent widespread distrust of the trial process surfaces whenever members of the public loudly protest a verdict, as happened in the John Hinckley case. Yet, all in all, Americans still cling to the belief that each citizen should have his or her own "day in court." Statistics on the rising number of case filings in the civil courts underscore the exercise of this right of access to the courts.
Some of the public fascination with trials also flows from the nature of a trial as great human drama. In the common view, few secrets can remain cloaked in a trial, or few emotions remain unraveled under the intensity of skillful examination of witnesses.
Many teachers have discovered that American society's attraction to the trial process can be used to an educational advantage. More and more courts are implementing formal visitation programs for students. Bar associations, individuals attorneys, and judges willingly lend their time to teachers and students. Significantly, during the past ten years the use of simulations of trials - mock trials - has taken root in the curriculum of many school districts. Two main reasons can be cited for this teaching phenomenon. One is the great public popularity of trials, already mentioned. The second (more significant educationally) is the recognition of the mock trial as a versatile, multi-dimensional teaching device. Because of the number of students a mock trial can involve in working toward the achievement of a wide variety of skills objectives, the mock trial as a teaching device might well earn a reputation for being the "ultimate role-play."
What educational objectives can a mock trial achieve? Through participation in mock trials and analysis of the activity, students gain an insider's perspective on courtroom procedures. Mock trials help students gain a basic understanding of the legal mechanism through which society chooses to resolve many of its disputes. While learning the details of trial process and procedures, students are also developing a number of critical skills that are universally necessary: critical analysis of problems; strategic thinking; questioning skills; listening skills; skills in oral presentation and extemporaneous argument; and skills in preparing and organizing material. Of particular interest is the high level of cooperation among students needed for successful mock trials. Recent research findings indicate that such cooperative learning activities encourage significant cognitive achievement among students from a variety of backgrounds and also improve students' attitudes toward school and each other.
Participation in mock trials helps students to understand better the roles that the various actors play in the justice system and also the difficult conflicts those persons must resolve daily in performing their jobs. On a more complex level, mock trials also provide students with an excellent vehicle for the study of such fundamental law-related concepts as authority and fairness.
Mock trials also provide a natural opportunity to incorporate field experiences and community resource persons into the school curriculum. Trips to the local courts to observe real attorneys, witnesses and judges in action are a natural prelude to or follow-up activity for the mock trial. In
addition, many attorneys, law students and judges are happy to volunteer to come into classrooms to help students prepare, act as judges and/or debrief the trial. This interaction with actual people in the legal system can go a long way toward changing negative attitudes of some students toward "unknown" professions. In addition, these resource people will often develop more positive attitudes toward young people from their experience with mock trials.Finally, the mock trial experience can serve to prepare students for possible future involvement as parties, witnesses, or jurors in trials. Their participation can reduce fear and help provide the knowledge needed to perform these roles more effectively.
Conducting Mock Trials: Complexity, Flexibility, Simplicity
A teacher new to the use of mock trials may hesitate to undertake a trial for reasons of time and complexity. Teachers should know, however, that a trial simulation is a flexible device, capable of being compacted into one or two classroom periods or expanded into a full unit several weeks in length.
Mock trials may be based on historical events, cases of contemporary interest, school situations, or hypothetical fact patterns. The format of the mock trial can be formal or informal, depending on the objectives of the class and the skills and sophistication of the students. Most mock trials use some general rules of evidence and procedure, an explanation of the basic facts, and brief statements for each witness. Other mock trial formats range from freewheeling activities where rules are created by the student participants (sometimes on the spot) and no scripts are used, to serious attempts to simulate the trial process based on simplified rules of evidence and procedure, to dramatic re-enactments of historical trials in which scripts are relied upon heavily.
Usually, however, scripts are not used. Instead, the students are given a statement of facts and legal issues. They may also be given a set of witness statements, which are not scripts, but affidavits on which the witnesses and attorneys build their witness examination questions and answers. Relevant documentary evidence (e.g. a contract) might also be included in the packet of trial materials. Analysis of the packet of materials and strategic design of each step in the trial represent the most important parts of the student learning experience in the mock trial. For this reason, teachers should avoid scripting the material or doing most of the question and statement preparation for the students.
Simplicity in approaching a mock trial is critical, particularly for a teacher who has not used the device previously. The skills-building objectives should always be in the forefront of the teacher's activities in the mock trial. While real-life simulation is certainly desirable to a point, teachers should be aware that too much legalizing over the issues, too much jargon, too much emphasis on the rules of evidence and procedure tend to diminish the learning value of the mock trial by stifling student interest and making the process too cumbersome for all involved.
|
Courts | Organizations | News | Opinions | Rules | Forms | Directory | Self-Help | FAQ | Library | Site Map | Search | Contact |
| Back to Top | Privacy and Disclaimer Notices | |
|
|
|