1.Have students familiarize themselves with the current U.S. Attorney General and his duties online at the U.S. Department of Justice: http://www.justice.gov/ag.
What is the role of the attorney general in the criminal justice system?
2.Read “Viewpoint: When Can a Lawyer Break Privilege?” at http://www.uchastings.edu/news/articles/2013/03/zitrin-breaking-privilege.php. Prepare a one-page report on the pros and cons of the attorney–client privilege.
3.Ask students to go online and visit the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office at http://pd.co.la.ca.us/. The LA County Public Defender’s office employs more than seven hundred attorneys. What is their function in the criminal justice system? What services do these men and women provide?
4.Have students interview a local criminal defense attorney or assistant district attorney to find out how heavy a caseload he or she has in a given year. Of these, how many are felonies and how many are misdemeanors? On average, how many are high-profile cases which receive media attention?
5.Have students break into groups (1) defense, (2) prosecution, and (3) witnesses/experts to testify, with the remaining students playing the role of victim, defendant, judge, and so on. Pick a high-profile case and allow the students to put on a mock trial.