koremetsu v. U.s.
For this project, we studied about war relocation camps during World War II and also studied the Supreme Court case, Korematsu vs. the U.S. We read several bibliographies about individuals who lived in the war relocation camps and we also studied about presidential powers during wartime. Our leading question throughout this unit was to decide whether or not war relocation camps during World War II were constitutional or not.
To decide whether or not war relocation camps were constitutional or not, we created a mock trial of the Supreme Court case Korematsu vs. the U.S. I was a judge along with three others and in order to prepare for our roles, we did a lot of background research about presidential powers during wartime. We read the initial Supreme Court ruling of the trial, and we also learned about courtroom rules such as objections. I really enjoyed working with the other judges and when it came time to come to a decision after the mock trial, it was a good learning experience. We really had to be open minded to each other’s thoughts and ideas.
After we came to a conclusion, we had to write a brief summary of why we came to our final verdict. Initially when wrote my final case write up, I was directly addressing the prosecution team as well as the defense team. However, after reading the real Supreme Court rulings from 1944, I realized that it was not necessary to be directly talking to the defense and prosecution teams. What was needed was evidence from the case to back up your opinion. Also while writing my final case write-up, I made revisions to the evidence I was citing in order to support my view best. I wanted to make sure I used the strongest evidence when creating my verdict for the case.
Overall, I really enjoyed this project. I wasn’t to psyched about it at first, however, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Most humanity classes don’t get to go to a courtroom and have their own mock trial. Although there was a lot of work involved in preparing for the mock trial, it was all worth it. One aspect of the project that could have been improved on was being better prepared for our roles. I think it would have been nice to learn more about the smaller details of a courtroom, but, overall, I felt pretty well prepared.
To decide whether or not war relocation camps were constitutional or not, we created a mock trial of the Supreme Court case Korematsu vs. the U.S. I was a judge along with three others and in order to prepare for our roles, we did a lot of background research about presidential powers during wartime. We read the initial Supreme Court ruling of the trial, and we also learned about courtroom rules such as objections. I really enjoyed working with the other judges and when it came time to come to a decision after the mock trial, it was a good learning experience. We really had to be open minded to each other’s thoughts and ideas.
After we came to a conclusion, we had to write a brief summary of why we came to our final verdict. Initially when wrote my final case write up, I was directly addressing the prosecution team as well as the defense team. However, after reading the real Supreme Court rulings from 1944, I realized that it was not necessary to be directly talking to the defense and prosecution teams. What was needed was evidence from the case to back up your opinion. Also while writing my final case write-up, I made revisions to the evidence I was citing in order to support my view best. I wanted to make sure I used the strongest evidence when creating my verdict for the case.
Overall, I really enjoyed this project. I wasn’t to psyched about it at first, however, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Most humanity classes don’t get to go to a courtroom and have their own mock trial. Although there was a lot of work involved in preparing for the mock trial, it was all worth it. One aspect of the project that could have been improved on was being better prepared for our roles. I think it would have been nice to learn more about the smaller details of a courtroom, but, overall, I felt pretty well prepared.