Mock Trial Korematsu v. United States:
The Korematsu v. United States Mock Trial project tasked students with researching a character or creating an argument that would lead up to a complete mock trial. The class was divided, half playing the role of defense in the name of the United States Government and half playing the prosecution in the name of Fred Korematsu. Fred Korematsu had disobeyed the government's order to report to an internment camp in favor of fleeing the state with his lover. This landed him in a criminal case which became a matter of the Supreme Court in 1944. This project included many guest legislators who educated students on court etiquette and the structure of direct and cross examination questions. This project ended with a full reenactment of the 73 year old Supreme Court case.
Both teams in this case presented strong arguments and different advantages. The defense heavily utilized the work of their witnesses such as the Final Report authored by General DeWitt. While the persecution utilized the same documents as well as some pictures . The defense made the most of their evidence by asking the authors of the reports and speeches to clarify on their stance. The prosecution did complete similar questions, but to lesser success.
Both teams contributed political and social arguments for their side, however only one team took it a step further. Rollin Leavitt of the prosecution incorporated a legal argument that left the defense's evidence temporarily impeached. Additionally, Destiny Smith of the prosecution worked during the defense’s direct examination of witnesses to come up with cross examination questions that highlighted words which were taken out of context. This successfully contributed to reveal how the defense had used quotes from the Munson report without context. Due to the aforementioned it is my belief that the prosecution both had the strongest case and won the favorable ruling.
My attitude towards this project was very optimistic. I looked forward to examining witnesses and convincing the judges that the prosecution was correct. In the end I enjoyed this project on multiple levels. I enjoyed the process of researching each of my witnesses and determining what they had done that I could use to discredit the other team. The teamwork aspect only served to help me further enjoy the project. Every victory we had felt like a contribution of work to create a final product. All in all, this project not only incorporated fun teamwork elements, but was extremely enjoyable.
Both teams in this case presented strong arguments and different advantages. The defense heavily utilized the work of their witnesses such as the Final Report authored by General DeWitt. While the persecution utilized the same documents as well as some pictures . The defense made the most of their evidence by asking the authors of the reports and speeches to clarify on their stance. The prosecution did complete similar questions, but to lesser success.
Both teams contributed political and social arguments for their side, however only one team took it a step further. Rollin Leavitt of the prosecution incorporated a legal argument that left the defense's evidence temporarily impeached. Additionally, Destiny Smith of the prosecution worked during the defense’s direct examination of witnesses to come up with cross examination questions that highlighted words which were taken out of context. This successfully contributed to reveal how the defense had used quotes from the Munson report without context. Due to the aforementioned it is my belief that the prosecution both had the strongest case and won the favorable ruling.
My attitude towards this project was very optimistic. I looked forward to examining witnesses and convincing the judges that the prosecution was correct. In the end I enjoyed this project on multiple levels. I enjoyed the process of researching each of my witnesses and determining what they had done that I could use to discredit the other team. The teamwork aspect only served to help me further enjoy the project. Every victory we had felt like a contribution of work to create a final product. All in all, this project not only incorporated fun teamwork elements, but was extremely enjoyable.