Law and Justice Yesterday and Today

Sensational Trials Have Provoked Questions About the Law, Justice and Punishment


Many thanks to Kelsey Morse of White Mountains Regional HS (NH) Humanities Team for the ideas that sparked this edition.

The Right to a Trial by Jury

https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/magna-carta-muse-and-mentor/trial-by-jury.html

A Discussion of the “First Murder”: the biblical tale of brother killing brother and the complex relationships among victim, perpetrator and judge.

https://billmoyers.com/content/the-first-murder/

NPR: Three current trials put a spotlight on justice

https://www.npr.org/2021/11/21/1057759761/three-current-trials-are-putting-a-spotlight-on-race-and-justice

How Medieval Europe thought of Justice

https://www.medievalists.net/2019/04/how-medieval-europe-thought-of-justice/ 

https://www.abdn.ac.uk/sll/disciplines/english/lion/justice.shtml

China’s Legal System And The “Ten Abominations”

https://china-journal.org/2016/05/11/china-legal-system-ten-abominations/

The Aztec Legal System

https://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/you-contribute/aztec-law 

http://azteccivilisations-justice.weebly.com/aztec-justice.html

Justifiably Infamous: The Spanish Inquisition

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Spanish-Inquisition

The Evolution of the Philippine Criminal Justice System

https://napoleoncreyes.wixsite.com/carabaojustice/single-post/2014/03/16/the-evolution-of-the-philippine-criminal-justice-system

Native American Social Structure, Laws and Punishments

https://restorativejustice.org/10fulltext/eagleharley

The Unique Problems Facing Native American Youths in the Criminal Justice System

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/10/native-american-youths-criminal-justice-system.html

Guilt or Innocence: Varieties of Ordeal and Torture

https://pages.uoregon.edu/dluebke/Witches442/442Week03--Ordeal&Torture.html

Trial by combat

https://priceonomics.com/a-brief-history-of-trial-by-combat/

How U.S. Courts Work

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/resources/law_related_education_network/how_courts_work/cases/

https://judiciallearningcenter.org/your-day-in-court/


The U.S. Federal Court System

https://www.justice.gov/usao/justice-101/federal-courts 

Stage courts versus federal courts in the U.S.

https://judiciallearningcenter.org/state-courts-vs-federal-courts/

“Jim Crow” Justice in America

https://oxfordaasc.com/page/focus-on-jim-crow-justice/jim-crow-justice

https://www.britannica.com/event/Jim-Crow-law

How the Massachusetts jury system was created.

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/learn-about-the-history-of-the-jury-system

The International Court of Justice

https://www.icj-cij.org/en

Note: As always, Grand Challenges links do not necessarily represent our feelings or beliefs, but are intended to provoke inquiry, discussion, and critical thinking.

Grand Challenge: Valuing World Cultures

ERC Grand Challenges: For project design, for inquiry, for activism